MIDWAY, Utah: - Williamstown native and Williams College sophomore Quinn McDermott will make his debut at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, with the Nordic ski standout testing himself against the best competition the country has to offer.
The competition opens for Nordic with the 7.5 km Individual Classic, which will be held at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah, with Thursday's men's race starting at 9 a.m. MT / 11 a.m. ET. The Classic will be the first opportunity for McDermott to compete on the national collegiate stage, which is a thrill for any competitor at this level.
"I was super excited when I learned I qualified for NCAAs," said McDermott. "It's something I've been working towards all summer, fall, and winter and since I started skiing competitively, so it was super gratifying to see all the time I've dedicated to the sport bear fruit.Â
"More than the sense of accomplishment, I was super excited to be able to keep racing, and take a trip out to Utah to race head-to-head against some of the fastest college-aged skiers in the world."
The competition this week was something that is a goal of every collegiate Nordic skier, but only a select few get the chance to compete.
"I could tell in the fall that Quinn was training at a different level than he was as a first-year," said Nordic head coach Steve Monsulick. "He started the season strong, with a solid first couple races, PRs, but as we got later on he had some really elite results that pushed him into qualifying for NCAAs."
While Thursday's 7.5 km Classic is McDermott's first opportunity, the NCAA Championship has a pair of races for each skier, with the second coming on Saturday in the 20 km Mass Start Freestyle.Â
"Skiers earn their spot at NCAAs with their best two skate results and their best two classic results, and even though Quinn's best results this season were in the skate, he has a great opportunity to score in both races," said Monsulick. "It'll be fun to see how he does because he's capable of a great race in both disciplines."
While the race has the top skiers from the Eastern, Central, and Western divisions of college Nordic skiing, the field itself is smaller than most races, which presents a unique challenge for student-athletes used to larger fields.
"A lot of the most important, bigger races have hundreds of competitors, but NCAAs will have fewer than half as many racers as we're used to seeing on the carnival circuit," said Monsulick. "This is a different feel, pretty unique in ski racing. I don't worry about that being too much of a challenge for Quinn. He has a pretty chill personality and he's been racing long enough and at big enough races that he'll be ready."
McDermott himself feels ready as well, and will enjoy the weather in Utah, which has mirrored some of the warmer days that Massachusetts has enjoyed in recent days.
"I'm super excited to race against some new competition at a new venue," said McDermott. "I'm also particularly excited to do some gorgeous sunny spring skiing, and maybe even get to race in a tshirt and shorts. Overall, I'm really excited to let it rip a few more times, and put a great cap on an already amazing season."
Monsulick also recognizes how McDermott is a special case for the Williams Nordic team, as both an Eph and a local, having grown up competing in Williamstown and the surrounding areas.
"It's really cool to have a qualifier from Williamstown itself," says the coach. "This town has a strong ski culture and he gets to be an ambassador of that. To see him move on to the national level is so exciting for Mt. Greylock, for Williamstown, for Prospect, and for the whole region. He's one of a good group of young skiers from Williamstown, with others at some schools that we compete against, and it's been exciting to see them develop and compete at a high level."
Thursday's 7.5 km Men's Individual Classic starts at 11 a.m. ET, and Saturday's Men's 20 km Freestyle will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET, with full coverage available on NCAA.com.
