The Carleton Ravens nordic ski team is looking to build upon last season’s strong finish, with the first races of 2011 at the end of January in North Bay, Ont.

The men’s team won both the OUA Championships and the Canadian College and University Nordic Championships (CCUNCs), while the women took home the silver medal in OUA competition in 2010.

The Ravens’ new head coach Chris Mamen said he is confident his squad can repeat those performances.

“The team is definitely getting better every year,” said Mamen, who was named head coach after John Langstone retired at the end of last season. “Riding on the success we’ve had recently, we’re attracting the best skiers around the country.”

The strength of the Ravens ski program has brought a wave of skiers from the Yukon Territory in particular throughout the past three years.

“The Yukon factor is huge for us,” Mamen said.  

Whitehorse native Colin Abbott said the closeness of the ski community in his home province has ensured the Nordic ski program at Carleton doesn’t go unnoticed.

“There’s a pretty close group of guys that I grew up with and have skied with my whole life,” said the third-year skier, who was the OUA men’s individual champion last season. “I was the first of them to head off to university and really enjoyed the program. I guess that got across to some of the other members of the Yukon team and they made the same choice as I did.”

Both Abbott and fellow third-year Brittany Pearson said they were drawn to the Carleton program in 2008 because of its proximity to the skiing in Gatineau Park, as well as the financial support the team received from the school.

“I don’t have to incur much financial stress from skiing to complement the stresses of supporting myself as a student,” Pearson said in an email.

The following year, Lee Hawkings, Logan Potter and Colin’s brother, Michael Abbott, left Whitehorse to join the Ravens.

“I think what’s going on now is just word of mouth,” Mamen said of the increased Yukon presence on the team. “People have seen that Carleton can really keep students and athletes going at a very high level.”

First-year Nansen Murray is the newest Yukon face on the team.

“He’s an excellent training partner,” Mamen said. “He’s incredibly enthusiastic and such a hard worker. I have no doubts he’ll put out some pretty big performances this year.”

Murray said he took two years off after high school to travel, and said he had stopped skiing, too.

“It was difficult to maintain a training regime while you’re [traveling],” Murray said. “I decided this was a good year to come back and I wanted to see if I could pick up where I left off.”

The rest of the ski team wants to pick up from where they left off last season, with their first tournament on Jan. 22 and 23.

Colin Abbott will miss the OUA championships to attend the World University Games in Turkey at the beginning of February, but he said the men’s squad is in good shape to repeat their first-place finish.

“We have the deepest team I’d say we’ve ever had. There’s a dozen guys who could all do really well at the OUAs this year,” Abbott said. “I’m hoping we can win the CCUNCs again this year.”  

Pearson said the women are also driven to take home a gold medal this year, despite losing some of their top skiers from last season. Alana Thomas left the team in December, and Adele Lay will be at the World University Games with Abbott during the OUA Championships.

“The rest of us have to step up our game,” Pearson said. “There is definitely an opportunity to dominate.”


Mamen concurred.

“We’ve got so many good athletes now I think that any day, any of them could do very well,” Mamen added.  

He said that Matthias Purdon and Kyle Power will likely lead the men, while Pearson and Zoe Braul will both be a force on the women’s side.

Mamen said his past experience with the Ravens has been beneficial to his new position as head coach. He was an assistant coach to Langstone last season and also skied for the Ravens for five years.

“I know how to balance the academics and the athletics,” he said, “and I think that’s the hardest part about skiing at university.”

Mamen added he doesn’t feel the pressure he thinks most new coaches would in their first year.  

“[I’m] just trying to get people to race at their best at the right time,” he said. “I think I’m in a pretty good position to do that with the athletes we have. I already have a team that’s built.”