Nicola Rountree-Williams comes to CMC's ski team from Vail Mountain School. A US ski team member, she is in her first year at the Steamboat Springs campus and with CMC's ski team. Photo by Brian Gudolawicz
CMC ski team competes in RMISA division 1 racing
Updated top-10 results: Feb. 15, 2023
Feb. 10 at Eldora – University of Colorado Invitational – Matt Macaluso placed 9th in the men’s giant slalom.
Feb. 11 at Loveland – Denver University Invitational – Nicola Rountree-Williams placed 7th in the women’s slalom, and Filip Krota placed 10th in the men’s slalom.
Feb. 12 at Loveland – Denver University Invitational – Nicola Rountree-Williams placed 7th in the women’s slalom.
Feb. 9, 2023 – The Colorado Mountain College alpine ski team is in the midst of the 2023 Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association’s racing schedule.
Starting off the RMISA season on Jan. 26-27, the Eagles men's and women's teams raced in the slalom-only Westminster Invitational at Snowbird Resort in Utah. CMC’s 10-member team, which head coach Scott Tanner describes as “young and enthusiastic,” is based out of CMC’s Steamboat Springs campus, and is an associate member in RMISA’s division 1.
The team competes against seven other teams: Montana State University, University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Nevada, Reno, University of Utah and Westminster College.
At the Westminster Invite, out of a field of 46, CMC Eagle Isaac Mozen finished 23rd and Matthew Macaluso finished 21st in the first slalom. Filip Krota finished 9th in the second slalom out of 38 racers. The team’s two women did not fare as well at Westminster, though Tanner says they have skill and experience on their side.
Nicola Rountree-Williams is in her first year with the team. She comes to CMC from Vail Mountain School and is a US ski team member and a three-time World Junior competitor.
“Nicola has the potential to win some of these races,” Tanner said of the freshman. “She’s won a couple of FIS races.”
Mary Kate Hackworthy has been a CMC ski team member for four years. She was a member of the 2015 U16 CanAm team and was both a U19 and Junior Nationals qualifier in addition to being a member of the 2017-2018 Rocky Mountain Division all-star team.
“Mary Kate has real longevity on this team,” Tanner said.
Eldora, Loveland – and Alaska
RMISA division 1 alpine racing season is relatively short this year. In addition to Westminster’s Snowbird opener, the team traveled to the Montana State Invitational at Bridger Bowl, Jan. 31-Feb. 1. However, races there were canceled due to significant snowfall and unsafe conditions during the beginning of giant slalom competition the first day.
For the rest of February, the team is competing first in Colorado, then Alaska. At the Colorado Invitational on Feb. 9 at Eldora, Matt Macaluso finished in 9th place after two runs in the giant slalom. The Denver Invitational at Loveland followed on Feb. 11-12.
The last race of the season is the RMISA Championships at Aleyska, Alaska with giant slalom on Feb. 22 and slalom racing on Feb. 24.
Although the RMISA season will be over, the CMC Eagles will continue racing into mid-April, competing in FIS races throughout North America and working on their world rankings.
Tanner stressed the importance of the team’s student-athletes improving their start positions.
“If you start a race in 30th position, you’re going to end that race in 30th position,” he said of the deteriorating conditions that often make moving up in the standings difficult.
An advantage
Unlike many of the colleges and universities with which they compete, the CMC Eagles have the advantage of training on-mountain within sight of their campus. Howelsen Hill, less than two miles from CMC Steamboat Springs, is easily accessible, and Steamboat Ski Resort is just five miles away.
"The advantage we have over the other schools is we can get all our training in and still get everyone to their classes," Tanner said. "Other schools have to travel for training."
Tanner said dryland training usually starts around the first of September. October at Copper Mountain starts early season training, and the team can usually begin training in Steamboat Springs around mid-November with six days a week on snow.
Nordic student-athletes represent CMC
Although Colorado Mountain College does not have a Nordic team, two 19-year-old Nordic student-athletes, Niklas Malacinski and Tess Armone, both of Steamboat Springs, represented CMC at the FISU World University Games in Lake Placid, New York in January.
The 11-day multi-winter sports and educational festival brings together student-athletes ages 17-25 to participate in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, freestyle and free ski, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, snowboarding, ski jumping and speed skating.
Malacinski raced in the men's Nordic combined – cross-country skiing and ski jumping – in team competition with Evan Nichols, 19, of the Community College of Vermont. Together, they won a gold medal with a time of 24 minutes, 51.1 seconds and had the second-best jumping score of 216.8.
Arnone is a member of the US national Nordic combined team and finished sixth in the women's Nordic combined during the games.