The Bates College Nordic ski team is poised to continue its recent outstanding history in 2002. The Bobcats featured a pair of juniors at the 2001 NCAA championships. Leading the way for the men was Justin Easter '03 (Jay, Maine). Easter, also a member of the menŐs cross country and outdoor track and field teams, has the distinction of reaching six NCAA championships in two years at Bates. In 2001, he earned his second career All-America honor in the steeplechase for the outdoor track team. As a skier, he just missed All-East honors, but had his finest performance to date at the NCAA skiing championships, taking 23rd in the classical race. Classmate Jane Marshall (Boise, Idaho) clinched her berth in the NCAAs at the final possible race, then went on to take 20th at the championships in the freestyle event. Bates' training and competition facilities are among the best in New England. The alpine team trains and races at nearby Sunday River in Bethel, Maine, while the Nordic team has a home course at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine. In March 1999, Bates hosted the NCAA championships at their home courses. The Lewiston-Auburn area boasts several trails close to campus for in-season training. Campus and the surrounding area offer challenging terrain for dry-land training.
Becky Flynn Woods '89 (rwoods@bates.edu), entering her seventh year
as a coach at Bates, was a two-time Nordic skiing captain at the college. She
participated in three NCAA Championships and was a member of the All-East team
as a sophomore. A native of Auburn, Maine, Woods coached in Colorado for a year
after graduating from Bates. She served for two years as an assistant coach
before taking over the Nordic program in 1994. In 1995 and 1997, she was named
Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Coach of the Year. Woods received the
Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame President's Award in 1996 and has served
on the NCAA skiing rules comittee since 1998. She has coached two All-Americans,
David Chamberlain '98 and Justin Freeman '98, both of whom are vying for spots
on the 2002 United States Olympic Team.
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