CCSA Skier Interviews
By Corey Coogan
February 17, 2005
Chandra Daw | Don
Harris | Kelly Wubbels
Chandra Daw, Gustavus
 Where
are you from?
I'm from the beautiful town of Duluth, Minnesota. - What high school or club did you ski for and what was
your best result in high school?
In junior high and high school, I skied for Duluth East.
I have so many wonderful memories from throughout all my
years of skiing. My best result and one of my favorite memories
were both from my senior year at the section meet. I won
the overall title, but even more exciting and meaningful
was that we won as a team. I remember when our last girl
skied across the finish line. We all knew by the look in
her eyes that we had done it...we jumped on top of her and
hugged and screamed forever! That was such a great feeling.
- What led you to choose Gustavus?
I actually had never heard of Gustavus until my junior year
of high school, when I definitely was not yet searching
for colleges. Basically, Scott Jerome sent me a nice letter
and I was hooked from there. I didn't want to stop skiing
all together and I knew I'd be able to ski for him. I toured
the school and loved the friendly atmosphere. Gustavus has
an excellent and well-known education department and I was
thinking about that as a major/career, so that was another
plus. I sometimes think I'm crazy for coming to school here.
Any skier probably would think that from time to time. There
isn't exactly an abundance of snow like other places up
north, but I have grown attached to this place from day
one and wouldn't trade my experiences for anything. And
I have learned that a little adversity only makes you tougher!
- What are you majoring in at Gustavus? What do you intend
to do after college? Do you plan to ski after college?
I am majoring in elementary education and I can't wait to
be a teacher! When I graduate next year, I will probably
start searching for a teaching job somewhere. I hope that
I will find a job in Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, or the
UP...that would be ideal. That's where my heart is. However,
I am willing to go anywhere; Alaska, Maine, you name it,
as long as there is snow. Also, some day down the road,
you'll maybe see my name on children's books. I would love
to write and illustrate books for kids! Skiing has been
such a huge part of my life. I can't imagine what it would
be like without it. I've been skiing since before I could
walk and will continue until I am no longer able. After
college I have plans to ski the Birkie and the Noque and
whatever other citizen races I can get to. So my answer
is YES!
- What do you like best about Gustavus? What do you like
best about the ski team? Do I have to pick one thing?
That's a really tough question. I love all my friends, my
boyfriend, and all the other relationships I have made with
professors and people in the community of St. Peter. One
thing I like best about Gustavus is how small it is. I can
walk everywhere, and wherever I go, I know I'll see friends
and familiar faces. My classes are small, which leads to
building connections with classmates and professors, great
discussions, and many opportunities to observe and teach
in schools around St. Peter.
The best thing about our ski team is the people. We all
get along and have had some pretty awesome memories over
the years. I love being able to train with such motivated
people who love the sport as much as I do!
- It must have been difficult for you and teammates to
see Scott Jerome leave for UAF. How have you and your teammates
adjusted to working with your new coach, Jed Friedrich?
It was really difficult to see Scott leave. He taught me
so much in my first two years at Gustavus, about skiing
and myself. One thing he told me was that the coach doesn't
make the skier, the individual does. I was a little nervous
to find out who our new coach was going to be, and whether
skiing would be cut if we didn't find a coach, but also
excited to start working with someone new. I thought that
Jed was similar to Scott in so many ways, which made the
transition much easier. It didn't take long at all to adjust
to working with Jed. He pushes us and expects that we give
our best in practice and in races. As a team we're really
lucky to have him as our coach.
- How do you feel about your season thus far? Have you
met your goals?
It's amazing how fast this season has gone. I can't believe
that next weekend is already Regionals. I am very happy
with how my season has been up to this point. I trained
really hard this summer and fall to get to where I am. I
always make goals for myself, some smaller than others.
As of now I have achieved all of them. One overall goal
is that I stay focused and give all that I have in every
race. This way I carry no regrets or upsets. If I give my
best and don't achieve a certain goal, I'm still happy.
We'll see this coming weekend if I meet all my goals! :)
"Success comes from doing the best you can do, pursuing
your dreams �till you make them come true."
Don Harris, St. John's University
- Where are you from?
Alexandria, Minnesota.
- What high school or club did you ski for and what was
your best result in high school?
I have been skiing my whole life, but I got a late start
in racing, as my high school did not start a boys� ski program
until 1999, my junior year. During my senior year, I was
the first boy from our team to qualify for State. Unfortunately,
I had a really bad race at State, but the next day I finished
10th in the MN Finlandia 25k, where I skied faster than
in the state 5km skate race. Also, I was born with dual
US-New Zealand citizenship, and was named to the NZ National
Ski Team last August.
 What
do you like best about SJU? What do you like best about
the ski team?
I like St. Johns' academic atmosphere; it is very stimulating
and engaging, interactions with professors are very open
and friendly, and I have had the opportunity to pursue very
intense independent research in my major. I also love the
campus, which includes literally thousands of acres of undeveloped
woods and several lakes. It is a great setting for both
school and training, and my experience here has been wonderful.
The ski team is a very flexible and accommodating program
that makes it very easy to balance training and racing with
academics. The team is a great and diverse group of athletes,
and we have a lot of fun together. Also, having 15km of
groomed trails right on campus is awesome, especially since
we seem to get more snow than the rest of central Minnesota.
- What are you majoring in at SJU? What do you intend
to do after college? Do you plan to ski after college?
I am a biochemistry major, and I am going to attend medical
school after graduation. I plan to take a year off to do
some more racing for the New Zealand National Team and do
some volunteering, and I hope to fit in as much skiing as
possible during and after med school.
- SJU has one of the larger men's rosters in CCSA. How
has having a large and deep team affected your development
as a skier?
The SJU ski team is very diverse in ability and goals, but
we all enjoy skiing and fully support and encourage each
other. Personally, this has helped keep the sport fun through
both success and failure.
- You were one of few skiers on your team to compete
at U.S. Senior Nationals. How was that experience? What
do you think about CCSA using that event as a qualifier?
Utah was a good experience. I think that integrating the
CCSA series with Senior Nationals and the SuperTour is great.
It increases the level of competition, and is a means of
allowing us to do more USSA and FIS races, which is especially
important for skiers who hope to pursue racing after college.
- How do you feel about your season thus far? Have you
met your goals?
Since our first six NCAA races were part of USSA Nationals
and the SuperTour series, and the six men's qualification
slots for NCAA Nationals were all but guaranteed to go to
the top three men at NMU and UAF, my primary focus for the
season was getting FIS points on my New Zealand license.
I have been chasing the still-elusive 100 point Olympic
qualification standard--a challenging goal for me, but one
that I believe I can achieve by January 2006.
Kelly Wubbels, College of St. Benedict
 Where
are you from?
I am from St. Cloud, Minnesota. - What high school or club did you ski for and what was
your best result in high school?
St. Cloud Tech High School. As for my best result in high
school, I am not sure...I did well my senior year though.
- What led you to choose College of St. Benedict?
People always ask this question and I never know what to
say. I chose St. Ben's because it seemed like a cool place
to go. I can ski and it has a pristine forest with beautiful
lakes and a gorgeous campus.
- What do you like best about CSB? What do you like best
about the ski team?
One of the things I like about St. Ben's is that it is a
small community and it is easy to get to know your classmates
and the professors really care about your future and your
learning. I like the ski team here because I have made really
great friends on the team and it's more of a relaxed atmosphere
as far as competition within the team.
- What are you majoring in at CSB? What do you intend
to do after college? Do you plan to ski after college?
Dietetics. I will do an internship for a year after I graduate
and take the exam to be a registered dietitian, but after
then who knows. Maybe I will ski after college (depending
on where I do my internship), or there is always the option
of moving to the mountains where it actually snows or living
on a boat and spending my time sailing around.
- You were the only one on your team to compete at 2005
U.S. Senior Nationals, how was this experience?
Well... it was a good time. I have never done any competing
at altitude before so that was a new experience. I had a
great time out in Utah and it was wonderful to be somewhere
with snow and to get to ski on the same trails the Olympics
were on. When I was racing I couldn't help but think, "Man,
they made this look easy and here I am practically walking
up this hill!!"
- How do you feel about your season thus far? Have you
met your goals?
As far as this season goes, I have started out pretty slow.
I had to wait a long time to get on snow and then I was
sick for a week. But now I have started to pick up the pace
and I am looking forward to these last two weekends. My
main goal in skiing is to have fun when I ski and race and
that goes along with skiing fast, because if I am not having
fun then what's the point?
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