After last month’s NCAA Championships in Bozeman,
Mont., most collegiate skiers returned to their respective
campuses to hit the books. But a handful were busy hitting
it on the NorAm circuit. Vermont’s Elli Terwiel locked up the
overall NorAm slalom title. Denver’s Trevor Philp became
the Canadian national slalom champion. And Utah’s Nick
Cohee turned heads by scoring his first NorAm podium
result.
For Terwiel, securing the slalom title was three years in the
making. “It was definitely my goal for the season,” she said.
“The last two years I was in the top two until the very last
day and straddled, so to actually do it this year feels pretty
amazing.” Her ability to hold off the advances of Canadian
national team member and World Cup winner Erin Mielzynski for the title demonstrates vast potential for collegiate
athletes.
“As a university skier, this title shows that the level of
[NCAA] competition is high and that it doesn’t lead to a
dead end,” said Terwiel. “You can compete in a university
race and score really good points. It was a fine balance between work and play this year for me, but I’m really enjoying skiing and going to school at the same time.”
The University of Denver’s Philp was not only the Canadian slalom champion but also runner-up in the points tally
for the NorAm giant slalom and super combined overalls.
“Denver offered me all the opportunities I needed to progress with my ski career,” said Philp. “I wasn’t able to go to
NCAA Championships due to the overlap with World Juniors which was too bad, so hopefully next year that will be
a different story.” Philp said he hopes to take advantage of
his World Cup starts next season to break into the top 30.
Elli Terwiel in the NorAm finals slalom.
