by Caleb Nelson '25
Senior Declan Hutchinson and sophomore Oliver Miatke competed at the 2025 NCAA Championship at Oak Hill Outdoor Center in Hanover, N.H., last week, becoming just the third and fourth Saint Michael's College men's Nordic skiers to ever qualify. The four-day event featured the top Alpine and Nordic skiers in the country.
A program once ranked among the lower tiers of Nordic skiing has transformed into one that consistently competes for the top five at carnivals and for two seasons in a row has had representation at the NCAA level. The Nordic squad partners with an Alpine program that has consistently appeared at the NCAA Championship for almost 15 straight years.
"We have been seeing the growth of the team for the past few years both in numbers and in success," said 13th-year Nordic head coach Molly Peters, who also coaches the men's and women's cross country running teams. "It is so exciting to see it all come to fruition with Declan and Oliver both qualifying for NCAAs." Peters noted sophomores Zoe Devine and Henrik Wist and first-year Daniel McCollor also just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship.
One key reason for the Nordic program's evolution was Peters moving into a full-time position about five years ago. This opened up time for recruiting opportunities and an increase in partial scholarship money that has allowed for the recruitment of higher-level skiers.
Hutchinson, captain of the Nordic program since his junior year, attended a camp before his first year where a member of the U.S. ski team hinted at the program not achieving strong results, however the ski community was cheering for it.
The women also witnessed growth under the captaincy of senior Izzy Quam and junior Clara Wyatt. Devine finished the season with six top-25 finishes and just missed becoming the first Saint Michael's women's Nordic skier to qualify for the NCAA Championship in 27 years.
Hutchinson described 2024 as a breakout year with Wist making it to the NCAA Championship. As a rookie that season, Wist won the mass-start 15K classic at the Dartmouth College Carnival as one of three top-six finishes. He became the first Purple Knight Nordic skier to qualify for the NCAA Championship since Jens Johansson '00 in 1999.
"I'm glad I got to do it, and afterward, I got DMs on Instagram from alums from 10 years ago and emails from people who had been watching the live stream or following along throughout the whole season," said Wist. "That was really fun for me to see how people cared so much and people were actually that enthusiastic about it."
Miatke said there were two big moments this year that proved the program could compete among the top schools in the league. The first one was when the men placed third in the relay at the Saint Michael's Carnival for their first podium finish in a relay in more than 30 years.
"Another moment was at the Dartmouth Carnival where we had five men in the top 20, placing us in second of all the teams there, which was pretty shocking because none of us even expected to do that well," said Miatke.
The Nordic program has also seen upgrades beyond talent on the snow. There have been generous donations from alumni that have enhanced the student-athlete experience.
"We have a whole ski house now, so it's just cool to see, and we have a trailer. That was exciting," said Quam, a second-year captain.
Compared to most sports Saint Michael's offers, Nordic skiers have a different training regimen. While other programs incorporate drills specific to the sport, Nordic skiers utilize activities like running and roller skiing to develop endurance and strength to help them perform on the snow.
"It's a year-round training cycle. Some of this year's skiers are doing upwards of 600 hours a year," said Peters. "So that's multiple hours a day of training, and they are training incredibly hard over the summer."
At this year's NCAA Championship, Hutchinson finished 29th and Miatke 35th in the 7.5K classic. For the mass-start 20K freestyle, Hutchinson placed 25th and Miatke 33rd. Between Alpine and Nordic results, Saint Michael's placed 13th for the championship. This event included schools from all over the country, as far away as Alaska, Colorado and Utah, and as close as neighboring University of Vermont and host Dartmouth.
"It's really the icing on the cake," said Peters. "Having representation at the national championships is what we have been working toward for the whole season. It's amazing to see our skiers wearing the purple and gold at the NCAA Championships."
