4 Page 20- The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 2, 1988 Skiers jump 0 into season BY MARK KATZ While the campus of Michigan has only experienced moderate snow flurries to this point, a University club that thrives on snow has been practicing ardently since October. The Michigan ski team has been meeting and practicing regularly for two months to get in shape for the beginning of the 1989 season in January. The team, which is coed, but skis a separate men's team and women's team at meets, is eager to hit the slopes for another season. This year, the women are hoping to match their third-place finish in the nationals last year, while the men are looking forward to the emergence of some talented first-year skiers on their five-member starting squad. "We're coming off a great season," said senior women's co-captain Laura Witty. "We have two skiers returning from last year's A team (the five- member first team), including myself and the other co-captain (senior Marie Claytool). Also, we have a lot of really good freshmen to fill the final three spots." ACCORDING TO senior men's co-captain Bill Seduin, the men's team is equally enthusiastic about the upcoming season. "Last year we were ranked tenth nationally, but suffered a disappointing elimination at the (regional finals) when three of our skiers fell during their runs," said Seduin. "This year, though, we have a strong team, including a lot of freshmen from upper Michigan as well as New York." Seduin and fellow co-captain, senior Steve Linck, have been the top-ranked skiers on the club since coming to Michigan. The ski team, presently composed of 65 members, practices four days a week during the fall to gear up for their two-month season, which includes meets every weekend during January and February. "Dry land training started in October," Witty said. "Two days a week we play soccer to develop our foot coordination. The other two days we do calisthenics, and circuits, which are a sort of human slalom through the Arb. One person runs through the Arb, swerving around trees, while the others try to follow. Circuits are great for our agility and stamina, as well as foot coordination." THE TEAM organizes all practices and meets themselves, as their club status does not allow for the allocation of funding for a coach. When the season finally begins, the team devotes all its time to meets. Every Wednesday, the club races at nearby Mount Brighton against teams from local colleges and universities. "For the most part, we consider the Wednesday meets just a good chance for practice," Witty said. "It is a prime opportunity to let people who aren't on the A and B teams get a chance to race." The real tests for the team come on the weekends, when it competes in statewide meets and sometimes travels to Minnesota and Wisconsin to ski. The team usually hosts their "home" meets at either Crystal Mountain in Traverse City or Caberfae in Cadillac, Michigan. The meets last the entire weekend, encompassing two slaloms on Saturday, followed by two giant slaloms on Sunday. Seduin explained that the giant slaloms put more emphasis on speed and gliding than do the slaloms, which key in on the more technical aspects of skiing since the gates are closer together. WHILE THE TEAM enjoys the op- portunity just to get away from Ann Arbor for the weekends and pursue a sport that many members did not think possible upon entering Michigan, their ultimate goal is, of course, to reach the national finals of the National Collegiate Ski Association (NCSA), an association which includes 90 percent of all college teams. "To make nationals, we first have to concentrate on winning our division, which includes 20 teams from Michigan and Ohio, as well as Notre Dame," said Linck, who has led Michigan to the division championship the past three years. "If we win, we advance to regionals, which includes 50 teams in the Midwest. A first or second-place finish there will take us to the NCSA nationals in Lake Tahoe." Win or lose, ski team members still appreciate the chance they have to ski competitively on the college level. "Everyone on the team learns a lot about skiing by racing," explained Linck. "It's good for our skiers at all levels. The team can provide a competitive arena for advanced skiers, plus it's a lot of fun and gives our inexperienced skiers a chance to learn how to ski better." Since the team is a club and therefore does not enjoy funding, the team sponsors a ski swap every year for the public, their only source of money. 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