CHAMPIONS NATIONAL

Paul Smith’s College Nordic Team Brings Home First Overall National Championship

The conclusion of four days of racing at the 2022 USCSA National Championships came in the midst of a blizzard with snow falling at a rapid rate and the races. Symbolic of the week the Paul Smith’s Bobcats teams had, storming the races to bring home their first-ever overall National Championship.

The week started on day one with the 7.5k skate race where the Bobcats shocked the field taking 1st (Aidan Ripp) 4th, (Gus Whitcomb), and 6th (Logan Jensen) to win day one with 10 points to St. Olaf’s 29 points. Taking home the first-ever National Championship for Paul Smith’s College Bobcats. The Bobcat women followed the men with Dolcie Tanguay leading the women in 2nd overall followed by Jessie Church in 13th, and Kaisa Bosek in 23rd to land them on the podium in 3rd place for the first podium finish for a women’s ski team from Paul Smith’s.

Day two of the USCSA National Championships featured the classic sprint races, an event known for crashes and broken equipment and the Bobcats had it all on day two. The men’s team advanced all six skiers to the final rounds of 30 (the only program to advance more than 4), and in the rounds, the men’s team saw it all- broken poles, crashing out, and some teammates digging deep to carry the team. The men ended the rounds with three skiers making it to the semi-finals with Aidan Ripp and Diego Schillaci making the A and B finals. In the A final, Aidan Ripp was caught behind a crash and chased hard to catch back on to finish third. In the B final, Diego Schillaci carried the men’s team with an effort that carried him from last to first on the last climb of the race to land him a 6th place finish and the thirdfastest time of the day. The effort landed the men’s team in 2nd, a mere one point behind St. Olaf.

The Bobcat men repeated the effort in the 15k classic mass start with Aidan Ripp once again taking the win, followed by teammates Gus Withcomb in 9th, Diego Schillaci 10th, and Logan Jensen in 11th, landing the Bobcats their second National Championship and Aidan Ripp’s second individual National Championship. The Bobcat women were also up to the task, taking their second podium of the championship with Dolcie Tanguay leading the way in 3rd, followed by Jessie Church in 10th and Kaisa Bosek in 23rd.

The final day of the competition was the team relay with three athletes rotating 3 laps of the 1.3k in freestyle. The Bobcat women (Jessie Church, Kasia Bosek, and Dolcie Tanguay) led off the day, positioning the first set of laps with the lead four teams before moving into second place and building a one-minute lead over the third-place team. The effort moved the Bobcat women into second place in the combined results for the week.

The Bobcat men followed the women and took the lead in the men’s relay from the gun and did not relent, building a twominute lead over the nine-lap race. Led by Gus Whitcomb who took the early lead and touched off to Logan Jensen who maintained the lead before Aidan Ripp blew the race open on his first of three legs, building a lead the Bobcats would extend each lap for the rest of the race. The Bobcats also fielded a second relay team that placed fifth giving the Bobcats a dominant performance. The win was the Bobcat’s third of the championship, and combined with their runner-up performance in the classic sprint, the Bobcats claimed the combined National Championship with 57 points over Wyoming’s 120 points.

“I’m blown away by these teams’ courage and tenacity, four races in five days is so hard,” stated Matt Dougherty, head Nordic Coach. “At the beginning of the season, the teams sat down and put pen to paper to create some goals and both teams achieved those goals. As a coach, you can’t ask for more from an athlete than to go out and focus on being their best. Winning championships is great and it’s a tremendous moment for this program and for the college but I am most proud of who this team is and how they support each other. We are so thankful for all the support that helped us accomplish this from our parents to everyone at Paul Smith’s College, and so many more.”

Over the course of the week the Bobcats accumulated 9 team podium finishes as a team, four national championships, three individual national championships, 16 AllAmericans, and 7 Academic All-Americans.