The NCAA National Skiing Championships last month in Stowe included all the usual suspects, including host Vermont, defending champion Colorado and traditional powers from Alaska, Utah and New Mexico. Bates, Colby and Middlebury also sent representatives.
Oh, and there was an Owl as well.
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Welly Ramsey, a New Sharon native and graduate of Mt. Blue High, made history as the first skier from the University of Maine-Presque Isle to compete in the NCAA championships.
A 20-year-old freshman who took a year off after high school to train with the Maine Winter Sports Center, Ramsey placed 24th of 39 men in the 10-kilometer freestyle event (won by Cumberland native Sam Tarling of Dartmouth) and 29th in the 20K classic race.
“It was amazing to be there among so many fast skiers,” said Ramsey, who also worked as a furniture mover in Caribou during his gap year. “I was never recruited to any colleges as a high school skier. I just wasn’t at that level.”
The story of how Ramsey — and UMaine-Presque Isle — reached the highest level of intercollegiate skiing goes back a few years to a time when campuses throughout the state’s university system were facing severe budget cuts. UMPI President Don Zillman was handing out pink slips and taking a hard look at a skiing program that had been fairly successful at the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association level — seven national titles — but had also seen four different coaches in six years.
The easy and cost-effective choice would have been to slash the program, perhaps keeping it as a club sport, particularly after head coach Alexei Sotskov returned to Vermont Academy because his wife, a librarian, could not find a job in Presque Isle.
“It was a nervous period there,” Zillman said. “In the worst possible time of the financial crisis, we were looking at Alexei’s departure and saying, ‘Wow, where do we go from here?’ “
The conclusion Zillman reached, along with Andy Shepard of the Maine Winter Sports Center, was to reach out to the community. Within two days last spring, Zillman and Shepard raised more than $50,000 to not only keep the program going, but also allow it to flourish.
Last summer, Zillman hired Paul Stone from the University of Vermont as head coach. The 2009 NCAA Eastern Regional Coach of the Year, Stone had coached at Colby and Williams as well as a stint running the Maine Coast Nordic program before going to Vermont.
“What I’m excited about in Presque Isle,” said Shepard, “is that they realized at the end of the day, after all the cuts, they had to stand for something. Now, they’re standing for excellence. And for opportunities for young men and women from around New England.”
Shepard also views the UMPI program as part of the evolution of the Maine Winter Sports Center, which supports middle school and high school skiers and hosts events for the world’s best cross country skiers and biathletes. The Owls provide a missing piece of the competitive puzzle.
High school skiers in the Northeast who hope to race in college face two major hurdles. The first is gaining acceptance to skiing schools with high academic standards such as Middlebury, Dartmouth and Maine’s Bates, Bowdoin and Colby. Once cleared, the second hurdle is paying for tuition, room and board that can climb upward of $50,000.
Tuition at UMPI for Maine residents is $6,330. For Canadians, it’s $9,510. For out-of-staters, it’s $15,930.
Throw in Presque Isle’s copious snowfall and lengthy season and the proximity of a world-class venue in the Nordic Heritage Center and Stone can make an attractive pitch to skiers like Ramsey.
“We’re an affordable option, even with the in-state options for kids in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York,” said Stone. “And a place like UVM takes at most one or two Vermonters on their team each year.
“Here in Maine, if you can’t afford or can’t get into Bates, Bowdoin or Colby, you may be out of luck if you want an opportunity to ski in college.”
Because he took over the program only in August, Stone focused his initial recruiting efforts on campus simply to fill out the men’s and women’s teams. He was able to add four newbies to six experienced skiers in an effort to comply with the NCAA’s Division I participation criteria for skiing, which calls for each school to race five men and five women in at least five meets a year.
“Even with these (new) kids, we didn’t make it,” Stone said. “So we’ll be on probation next year.”
With more experienced recruits arriving in the fall, participation levels shouldn’t be a problem.
Nor, Stone said, should stability in the coaching ranks.
The university also hired Rachael Hannah, Stone’s wife, to teach. She recently earned a doctorate in anatomy and neurobiology at UVM. They plan to buy a house in the County this summer.
“I tell the kids, ‘Look, I’m planning to be here,’ but I don’t know whether they believe me or not,” said Stone, who’s 35.
“I want to be part of something that’s growing. Most of the kids on the team are freshmen and sophomores. When they finish, I think they’ll feel like they were part of building this team and building a foundation for future success.”
Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:
gjordan@pressherald.com
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