Warner Nickerson made his mark last year on the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association alpine ski circuit with five victories. This year he went a step beyond that with two silver medals at the FIS-Winter World University Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Nickerson earned a silver medal in the giant slalom competition. His other medal was for combined, taking in his finishes in the four alpine skiing disciplines. Nickerson also was fourth in the Super G, sixth in the slalom, and ninth in the downhill for the United States team.

Nickerson, a senior, was the first double medallist for the U.S. squad (alpine and Nordic) in World University Games competition since 1997. He is the first alpine skiing double medallist since 1993.

During the winter carnival season, Colby qualified full teams ofthree men and three women for the NCAA Division I Championships. Nickerson earned first team All-America honors for being second in the giant slalom at the NCAA meet. Nickerson won three Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) races during the season, including the Eastern title in the slalom at Middlebury College.

Robert Saunders earned second team All-America honors for placing sixth in the giant slalom at the NCAA meet. He also led the Mules by finishing 13th in the slalom. Charlie Reed placed 14th in the slalom for Colby.

The Colby men were second in the giant slalom and third in the slalom at the NCAA meet.

Reed and Jacob Colognesi were on the NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team.

The women's alpine ski team had a first by qualifying a full three-woman team for the NCAA Division I Championships. Abbi Lathrop, Siri Ashton and Nicole Wessen made the NCAA team for Colby. In the past two years, Abbi Lathrop and twin sister Jenny Lathrop were the only representatives.

Lathrop earned first team All-America honors after two greats runs in finishing second in the giant slalom at the NCAA Division I Skiing Championships. She helped the Colby women place third in the giant slalom. Lathrop was a consistent top-10 finisher during the course of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) winter carnival season. She was sixth in the giant slalom and eighth in slalom at the Eastern meet.

Ashton and Wessen both showed dramatic improvement in earning NCAA spots. Aston capped of her EISA season by taking eighth place in the giant slalom and 19th in the slalom. Wessen was 13th in the slalom and 22nd in the giant slalom at Easterns.

Wessen then finished 17th in the giant slalom and Ashton was 20th at the NCAA meet.

Ashton also made the NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team.

Through three consecutive years of strong recruiting, head coach Mark Godomsky has put together a winning team capable of dominating the Eastern NCAA Division I racing circuit.

The men's team returns NCAA qualifiers Robert Saunders '05, Warner Nickerson '05, and Charlie Reed '06. The men's team will look for juniors Rory Kelly and Jake Colognesi to help the Mules improve upon last year's fine results.

The women's team returns a strong group led by junior twins Abbi and Jenny Lathrop. In addition to the Lathrops, returning skiers Nicole Wessen '05, Siri Ashton '05, Caitlin Healey '06, and Ashley Best '07 will work hard to help the women be strong again.

"I'm excited for next year," said Godomsky. "We have a great group of athletes. They love to ski and work hard at becoming the best ski racers they can be."

Colby's attraction cannot be summed up to a single factor, but is the result of the ski program's overall advantages. Colby's dry-land program begins in September with an off-snow workout scheduled five days a week. Colby's ski training is based out of Sugarloaf/USA - one of the premier eastern resorts for snowmaking, size, and terrain. Having on-snow training based out of Sugarloaf means Colby's skiers usually can start training the first week of November. In addition to the early on-snow training program, Colby holds two intense six-day, on-snow camps to work on ski technique.

Colby's academic schedule is another huge advantage for the program. Students enjoy a short term during the month of January where students take only one class. Colby's Jan Plan provides ski team members with free time for training and racing throughout January - the heart of the carnival ski circuit. With so many advantages it is not surprising that Colby's ski program has had so much success at both USSA/FIS events and in the Division I carnival circuit.

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