Portland Maine News

A team is a microcosm of community. And like successful communities, when good teams come together, amazing things can be accomplished. Enter the SJC ski team.

Shortly after its inception, the ski team, along with the rest of the world, was delivered a tough blow: COVID-19. There were so many unknowns at the time. Would they be able to ride the lift? Would they need to mask up on the course? Would there even be a ski season at all? But if there’s one thing this young team will do, it’s find the positive in any situation. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that this year, they found themselves racing on the national stage.

Who is responsible for building this fast-rising program? Meet Coach Margot Cosentino. A New Hampshire native and avid ski racer her entire life, the transition from skier to coach made perfect sense to Margot.

“I started coaching high schoolers while I was also teaching. Eventually I made the decision to change school districts, and once I did that, I felt like I was ready to try something new. The school I was teaching at was close to Saint Anselm College, and after hearing that they were looking for a ski coach, I decided to give it a shot and see if I liked the college life.”

After coaching at Saint Anselm College for two years, Margot’s love for coaching at the collegiate level grew, but there wasn’t an opportunity for her to transition out of teaching and into coaching as her full time career. Luckily, Margot’s husband happened to be in the right place at the right time, and the ski coach stars aligned.

“While I was at Saint Anselm, my husband started working at Saint Joe’s as the men’s lacrosse coach. He absolutely loved it here (and still does!), but our time was split with him in Maine and me in New Hampshire, and we quickly decided that that wasn’t going to work for us. All of the sudden, unbeknownst to my husband, Saint Joe’s announced that they were starting a ski team. Someone at the school reached out to my husband asking about my experience coaching skiing, and he was so confused because he had missed the announcement. After all of the confusion cleared, I applied as soon as I was able to. And that’s how I ended up here at Saint Joe’s.”

After relocating to Maine and getting settled in, Margot got to work building a ski team from scratch.

“It made sense for Saint Joe’s to start a team because of our location. You can’t find a better spot in Maine that has access to skiing, the lake, and the ocean. This state is like a breeding ground for outdoor enthusiasts. The first year (2018 – 2019) we were a club team, which is a requirement before you can join the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association (USCSA) and become a varsity team. During that time I focused on offering meetings on campus for anyone and everyone who was interested. We didn’t have any recruits, but we ended up with five students.”

“During that first year we just went out there and gave it a try. Our only goal was to build a name for ourselves. We ended up competing in about 50% of the regular season because my focus was more on recruiting and establishing ourselves as a team by making a home mountain, getting our gear out there, and essentially showing people that we existed.”

Despite keeping modest goals and not focusing 100% of the efforts on successful races, the women’s team surprised everyone and qualified for regionals that year. Margot and the team took the opportunity to get a better idea of what their competition was like and help shape their goals for the next season.

“After that first season, I had four new freshmen coming in the next year, and that’s when we started our first full season and first year (2019 – 2020) as a varsity team. My walk-on freshman from year one, Sarah Hotchkiss, is the only team member who has stuck it out all four years. Sarah is now a senior, and she’s our OG. She’s seen four very different teams because every year we’re growing and changing.”

When asked about the past four years from her point of view, Sarah echo’s the same sentiments as Margot.

“The most impactful change I’ve seen over the last four years is the level of competitiveness. When the team was just starting, we were focused on program building rather than trying to win races. Over the years, I’ve  been able to see the talent on the team grow. With each new skier, the level of competition is pushed even higher. Something that has helped our team become so successful is the importance we place on our culture. Although skiing is based on individual performances, our team has worked very hard over the past four years to advance our ability to work well together. We’re all competitive people, which serves us well in an individual sport, but we have worked hard on holding each other accountable, and acknowledging situations where we need to step up and do something to help the team. As the team has grown in size, the culture has only improved.”

It’s easy to see that Margot’s ability to communicate and collaborate with the students is one of the many ways she has built a supportive network of men and women who all want the best for each other. This support system became that much more important during their first season as a varsity team, when COVID-19 became the only thing anyone could think about.

“We got really lucky in terms of where our season falls, so we were never sent home from our season and were able to complete it. But the following season was where we finally felt the full effects of the pandemic. USCSA tried to operate as usual. But, with so many schools and restrictions to consider, it just wasn’t possible. Luckily for us, our division (the Reynolds Division) was the only division that had a season. We ended up competing against UMaine Farmington every weekend. And while it did become monotonous at times, it worked out well for our team because it gave them the opportunity to be successful, win medals, stand on the podium and build some confidence.”

Aidan Wolfinger, one of the team captains, credits racing in the Reynolds Division and the impact it had on his own outlook on skiing.

“I learned to be calm under pressure. The more I raced in the Reynolds division, the more I learned to have fun and not take things so seriously. The more fun I had, the better I ended up doing in competition.”

After a season of firsts, and a season transformed by a global pandemic, Margot and the Saint Joe’s Ski Team got their feet (and skis) back underneath them in 2020-2021. This year, they were ready for whatever the season threw at them. What they didn’t know is that this season would bring some of their biggest accomplishments yet.

“You don’t know you’re going to Nationals until Regionals, and you don’t go to regionals unless you qualify. Our women’s team won every race this season, so while we knew they would qualify for regionals, the men’s team was a bit of a question mark.”

The men’s team worked hard this season, typically placing second in most competitions. With a few lower-placing competitions mixed in, it came down to the last race of the regular season for the men to earn their spot on the podium and race next to the women’s team at regionals.

“It came down to the last race of the regular season, and not only that, it came down to one point. It was a big day when we found out both teams were going to Regionals.”

Fast forward to Regionals, the overall team goal? Qualify for Nationals. The reality of actually pulling it off was another story.

“The reality of doing that is so difficult, it truly was not something I was banking on this year. But once again, both teams stepped up.”

Before we get into the Regionals recap, we’ll give a brief explainer as to how teams qualify for nationals. The top six men’s and women’s teams to finish at Regionals automatically earn their spot at Nationals. Then, there is a wildcard team. All of the teams competing determine who that wildcard finisher will be. It can be the team who comes in dead last, or, it can be the team to place seventh overall. This year, they decided it would be the seventh place finisher.

“The women’s team did well at Regionals and ended up in fifth place overall. They’d made the cut. The men’s team, however, placed ninth on their first day. Knowing that they had to be in at least seventh place to qualify for nationals, we decided to go into day two with no pressure. We went out there with a ‘whatever happens, happens’ mindset and just tried to have some fun.”

Not only did the men’s team have fun, they also exceeded everyone’s expectations (including their own) by placing fourth, putting them in seventh place overall. They were going to Nationals.

“They did what they had to do, which was so impressive because they had no room for error. Each and every one of them stepped up. We were so excited to reach our goal of going to Regionals, so the fact that we then made it to Nationals, it was more than we could have asked for. It was surreal.”

Next stop: Lake Placid, New York. The team traveled six hours to the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center, the site of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. And the organizers of the competition pulled out all the stops for the students competing.

“Arriving at Nationals was so exciting, they made the experience feel like it was the Olympics for college kids. The kids got swag bags, credentials, there’s camera crews all around, they even had an opening ceremony.”

After settling in, it was time to ski.

“Our girls were so consistent all year, not one fall in competition. So, you can imagine our surprise when we had three falls on that first day. But we didn’t take those falls as a sign that we should give up, or even be upset. This competition wasn’t about the results, it was about the overall experience.”

Team captain Erika Irvin ‘24, was one of the three to fall on that first day.

“Competing at Nationals was an amazing experience. My one low point of the season was falling at Nationals. It was hard to make it that far and have it end that way. However, falling is part of the sport, and my teammates supported me and made me feel so much better. I got over my personal disappointment pretty fast. I was proud I had the opportunity to compete and enjoyed cheering the rest of my team on.”

After multiple days of racing, the team left the competition placing 13th and 14th overall. They also walked away with an experience of a lifetime.

“This was a huge learning experience for everyone. Our skiers were challenged, they learned just how hard this sport can be, and they went head to head with a level of competition that they hadn’t seen before.”

Hearing about the experience from team captain Aidin Wolfinger’s point of view, it’s clear that the race results were not dwelled on.

“Nationals was a great experience for the team to go and compete at the highest level against the best in the country. The atmosphere and environment at Lake Placid was so fun, and being able to experience the Olympic Training Center was incredibly eye opening.”

So, how does this experience shape seasons to come for Margot and the Saint Joe’s Ski team?

“In terms of changing the goals, I think the goal now is to make it back to Nationals. And not just make it back, but we want to become a regular team who competes at Nationals and places well. In order to do that, we have a lot of work to do. So, for next year, let’s see if we can aim for the top ten.”

After talking to Margot and a few of the team members, there’s little doubt that they will accomplish just that, and more.

Original source can be found here