Purdue News

February 13, 1998

Purdue ski team has sights on regional qualification

Unlike most of their intercollegiate counterparts, none of these club-sport athletes receives an athletic scholarship, and all 40 pay the majority of their team's expenses themselves.

"We are completely self-funded," Mike Panich, a senior in graphic design from Lafayette , said. "We do some fund-raisers when we can, but we have to pay for travel, rooms, food, lift tickets and entry fees from our own checkbooks.

"Sometimes we have to scrimp on the non-important things, like food, and pile lots of people into one hotel room in order to afford the trips to our competition sites, but it's worth it. We have a great time and have managed to find some success along the way."

The ski team, made up of both men and women, is a member of the United States Collegiate Ski Association and began the 1998 campaign on Sunburst Mountain in Kewaskum, Wis. The team competed against three others, with the women placing second and the men placing third. During the season, the team will compete against several other Big Ten colleges, including Northwestern and Wisconsin, and will travel throughout Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin for events.

Sabrina Vande Zande, a junior majoring in preveterinary medicine from Leo, Ind. , said being competitive on the slopes is tough since the team doesn't have practice facilities. Last year, she finished in the top three in every competition without a consistent practice schedule.

"We don't practice, mainly because the nearest facilities are four hours away," Vande Zande said. "All of our competitors practice on a regular basis, so it's hard to compete with them. In the past, we've tried to get some practice time in the day before the event, but we won't have that luxury this year. All the competitions are two days long, so any practice time we may have had is gone."

Nevertheless, this team has set its expectations high this year.

"We want to make it to regionals this year, and I know we'll make it," Vande Zande said. "We already have a lot of good returning skiers and have added some new talent this year."

If the team makes it to the USCSA regionals, it will travel to Marquette, Mich., to compete against more than 20 teams for one of the top five spots. These top five teams automatically advance to nationals. Teams or individuals also can be invited to nationals even if they do not qualify.

Being a team with no coach makes getting to regionals even tougher. Team leaders are counting on the rookies learning from the experienced skiers.

"We have to help each other out as much as we can," said Jill Kettinger, a senior majoring in health sciences from Highland, Mich. , and team president. "Skiing in general is an individual sport, so the team atmosphere is very unique for us. We are very fortunate to have people with great attitudes who are willing to learn from each other."

Sources: Jill Kettinger, (765) 743-3453
Mike Panich, (765) 746-3006
Sabrina Vande Zande, (765) 743-7571
Writer: Jessica Kemery, (765) 494-2096
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu

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