Cowboy Chase Synopsis...

Last weekend was the final season race for the UW Nordic Team. It was the home race, the Cowboy Chase, as well as being the Western Regionals for the USCSA. The college teams that were in attendance were University of Wyoming, United States Air Force Academy and Colorado Mountain College. There was also an open citizen’s event. It consisted of two races, Saturday’s was a 15km skate race and Sunday’s was a 7.5km classic race. They were both held at the Pole Mountain Nordic Trails. Results can be found at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ski/racing.html

Saturday was a beautiful day for racing with 20 degree temperatures and well groomed trails. The Cowboys had a great day sweeping 1-6, they were helped by illness in the Air Force team. John Kirlin won the race by over a minute beating team mates Justin Kinner, Brian Sebade, Michael Fitzgerald, Nicholai Smith and Adam Kargas. Patrick Richards placed 8th, less than a minute behind Adam. The Cowgirls also skied extremely well behind Freshman Marie Cartwright who just edged out Gwynn Barrows by 2 seconds. Erin Hammer, Liz Turner, Katie Turner, Karyn Liebsch and Mae Peterson rounded out the top 7 with Gina Shively and Aubree Haffey coming in 9th & 10th.

It was a great day with some really solid finishes. The weeks of Division I racing really paid off.

Following a fundraising dinner and raffle on Saturday night the Pokes were on the trails again Sunday morning with a 7.5km classic race. The men skied strong again taking the top 4 spots. Brian Sebade lead the Cowboys, only .7 seconds in front of John Kirlin. Jacob Peterson wasn’t far behind, only 17 seconds. Justin Kinner placed a solid 4th with Michael Fitzgerald 6th and Adam Kargas in 7th. The women also continued their dominance with a 1-6 sweep. Gwynn Barrows lead with Katie Turner, Marie Cartwright, Liz Turner, Mae Peterson and Gina Shively. Aubree Haffey placed 8th and Karyn Liebsch 10th.

It was a extremely successful weekend that concluded with 8 cowboys and 6 cowgirls qualifying for USCSA Nationals. Qualifiers for the men are John Kirlin, Brian Sebade, Jacob Peterson, Justin Kinner, Nicholai Smith, Michael Fitzgerald, Patrick Richards and Adam Karges. The women are: Marie Cartwright, Liz Turner, Katie Turner, Erin Hammer, Mae Peterson and Karyn Liebsch. Gwynn Barrows is red-shirting to do a study abroad.

USCSA Nationals will be held in Black Mountain, Maine March 4-8. The men are trying to better their 2nd place finish from last year, when they lost to Cornell by 1 point. They are a stronger and more cohesive team and have a real shot of getting revenge. The best teams in the Nation are St. Olaf college from Minnesota and Clarkson University, New York. Cornell graduated their entire men’s team last year so they shouldn’t be much of a factor.

The women are defending National Champions but have had a tough year with illness and injury, losing all of their top 4 women from last season. Despite these setbacks they have bounced back enough that they are hoping for top three showing. The favorite for the women is UW’s rival year after year, St. Olaf. Clarkson also has a strong team as well as University of Maine Presque Isle.