With the 2012 season just around the corner, the Carleton Ravens men’s Nordic ski team is chasing their third straight national title.
Ravens head coach Chris Mamen said he has high expectations for the team this year.
“I think we have a great group of athletes, definitely one of the best groups I’ve seen on this team,” he said.
Last season, the men’s team won their second national championship and were also the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions. The women’s team placed fourth at the OUA championships last year, but couldn’t send a complete team to nationals.
The men’s team lost two players after last season, with Matthias Purdon graduating and Colin Abbott moving on to a training centre to compete nationally, according to Mamen.
But second-year engineering student and team member Peter Beisel said despite the departure of the two athletes, the team still has many strong athletes to compete with. Both Beisel and Mamen said the team has a lot of depth and there’s no particular athlete who will carry the team.
“That’s really hard to say, there’s pretty dedicated men’s and women’s skiers,” Beisel said.
“I know it’s crazy to say, but all of them have a good chance of doing really well. I can’t pick out one, they’re all so competitive with each other that on any given day any of them could win any race,” Mamen added.
The men’s team will rely on the more experienced athletes to help develop the team, Mamen said. This year the team will have no fourth-year athletes, which means third-year skiers like Lee Hawkings, Andre Marchand and Kyle Power will have to step up as leaders.
On the women’s side, Mamen said the more experienced athletes like Ingrid Hagberg, Anna Crawford and Kyla Vanderzwet will be leading the team, though he noted that younger athletes have the potential to do just as well.
“It might be some of the youngest that post some of the best results,” he said.
For both Mamen and Beisel, what they hope to achieve seems pretty clear. Beisel said he hopes the men’s team can win another national championship and OUA title. Mamen also said he would like a similar result from the women.
“I’d like [to] definitely be in the medals in the OUAs for the women and send a complete team to nationals and compete in the medals there,” he said.
