Three racers from the St. Bonaventure University Ski Team competed in the University of Rochester Invitational at Bristol Mountain resort in Rochester, NY on Jan. 24 through Jan. 25.
The team meets twice a week, each session lasting two hours. The St. Bonaventure University Ski Team is small, but between the three who competed they pack roughly 30 years worth of competitive ski experience into that group.
The team competes in two ski categories known as the Slalom and Giant Slalom. Both of the competitions are speed-based events; however, both have qualities that make them unique.
Slalom and Giant Slalom are downhill races; Slalom has closer gates with tight turns and shorter skis. Giant Slalom is more open and much faster than Slalom, with gates that are wider apart.
In the Rochester competition, sophomore marketing major Gabby Slavny, team captain, placed second in Slalom leading her to fourth overall in the women’s individual section.
“Personally I was happy with my second place in Slalom on Sunday, but it’s more fun to be the fastest racer there and get first. Being the second-fastest skier on the hill is a step in the right direction, though,” Slavny said.
Sophomore psychology major, Max Borgus, placed first in Giant Slalom and second overall in men’s individual. He and Slavny placed first in Slalom this past Sunday in Swain, New York, which is Borgus’ home slope. Borgus has been competitively skiing since the age of seven.
“In the winter skiing is my life, it is all I think about, it is all I do and when it is not season I can not wait for it to come back,”Borgus said.
The newest member to the Bonaventure racing community, junior education major Micaela Young, has the least amount of racing experience among her teammates. Regardless, she helped the SBU women’s team reach sixth in Giant Slalom and seventh in Slalom overall. According to Young she believes her time as a ski instructor has helped her adapt to the world of competitive skiing.
“For me, skiing has always been an escape; it lets me become one with nature and the mountain, ultimately shows how in sync I am with my mind and body,” Young said.
There are 22 schools that make up the division for this type of skiing, but usually 12 schools attend the competition. The racers, thus far, have had consistent outcomes, placing high in individual Slalom and Giant Slalom races. As a club sport on campus, they have a relatively low number of members, with four overall. They need to have teams of three, but as of now they have two on each of the girls and guys teams. Young said the team wants more students to join so they can compete as a team without the ghost score penalty, given to teams with less than three members.
“I think the costs associated with ski racing are very expensive and only people who really love the sport are willing to spend that kind of money. However, we are working on generating funds for our club, so hopefully this will help bring more people to the sport,” Slavny said.
The team is making an effort to make the sport more accessible to the student body.
Slavny said, “It’s for people who love a rush, certainly an adrenaline sport. I have experienced bad crashes that affected my mental game. In order to be a good ski racer you have to be in a good spot with the sport mentally and physically.”
