The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — They’re not Olympians, but that hasn’t stopped former Steamboat Springs ski racers Marsh Gooding, Lisa Perricone, Emily Colin and Tina Roberts from taking skiing to a new level.

The skiers, all products of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, are captains of their college teams. Gooding leads the men’s team at the University of Vermont, and Perricone leads the women at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Colin is at Colby College in Maine, and Roberts is at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

“All of us made a good run at the U.S. Ski Team,” Gooding said. “But for whatever reason, we didn’t make it, and college ski racing is a pretty sweet alternative.”

Gooding, who is majoring in geography, said it takes a competitive drive to be successful in skiing at the college level. He also has discovered that college ski racing offers a few things that the U.S. Ski Team can’t.

First and foremost is the education he will take with him after he is finished on the slopes — which will be paid for, in part, from his skiing scholarship. He also was quick to add that there is a special feeling that comes from being a part of a college team that is different than the feeling he got pursuing the U.S. Ski Team.

“It’s just different,” he said. “You might be a member of the U.S. team, but you are always racing for yourself. In college, your teammate’s finish might be the difference between winning and losing a meet. You’re not just racing for yourself in college.”

He admits he still misses the chance to be a part of the national ski team and the chance to compete in the Winter Olympics. But the message he also is hoping to send, along with the other former Steamboat racers, is that college ski racing is a great way to stay on the slopes and maintain that competitive edge.

“College ski racing is on the rise,” Perricone said. “It’s not the same as the national level. You don’t have the opportunity to train and compete against the very best in the world every day, but the level of skiing in college is very good, and it just keeps getting better.”

Just a few years ago Perricone was in an elite field of skiers hoping for a slot on the U.S. Ski Team, but injuries and the constant drive for top results took their toll. She opted to take a spot on the University of Colorado ski team, and she has found a new home in the college ranks. She’s a regular at the NCAA Championships and is hoping the Buffs can regain the title later this winter by taking it from the 2008 champions and in-state rival, the University of Denver.

She’s in good company in Boulder. Perricone’s teammates include former Steam­boat Springs’ racers Jennifer Allen, a freshman; Heide Hillenbrand, a junior; Tony Cesolini, a senior; and Drew Roberts, a junior.

Leadership roles

Like Perricone, Steamboat’s Tina Roberts also has found a home in college ski racing — though it’s a little farther east. She’s a captain at Dartmouth, where she is majoring in neurobiology.

“It’s been so much fun,” Roberts said about racing at Dartmouth. “I never really thought about racing in college when I was growing up in Steamboat. But then it was all about making the U.S. Ski Team.”

But now, it’s all about making the ski team at Dartmouth the best it can be, and Roberts said that means supporting her teammates and measuring a good day by the team’s success — not necessarily her own.

She jokes that she is not allowed to talk to Gooding, a skier she grew up with in Steamboat, because he skis for rival Vermont. However, the two skiers have stayed close.

“I see him almost every weekend,” Roberts said. “It’s great because it keeps me close to Steamboat.”

For Colin, the chance to race for Colby meant she was getting a second chance. Injuries, including breaking her leg twice, limited Colin’s chances to make an impression on the U.S. team during her final years with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

“It doesn’t have to be the end,” Colin said about not making the team. “College provides an opportunity to be successful and to continue skiing.”

It’s an opportunity she’s taken full advantage of while pursuing her degree at Colby.

Rick DeVos, the executive director at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, said all four skiers are great representatives of Steamboat and the club.

“We are really proud of all these skiers and all of the skiers who are currently skiing in the NCAA and other college divisions,” DeVos said. “It’s impressive that these four skiers have taken on a major leadership role at their schools and have been able to continue to find success in skiing.”

DeVos said the role of the club is to help skiers reach their goals in skiing and snowboarding, no matter what those goals might be. For some skiers, he says that’s finding a spot on the U.S. Ski Team, for some it’s college, and for others, those goals might lay outside of skiing.

“Every skier in our club is hoping to reach their own personal goal,” DeVos said. “I think these skiers have set a great example that some of the younger members in our club will be able to follow in the future.”