STOWE, Vt. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Sadie Peterson represented Green Bay this week at the NCAA Skiing Championships as the first women's team qualifier since 2011. The redshirt sophomore raced in a 5k freestyle on Wednesday and a 15k classical on Friday. To view full results, click HERE.
5k Freestyle
The lone Phoenix placed 38th in the field on her first day of competition, recording her fastest time of the season on the championship course, a 15:02.5. Peterson was less than 20 seconds away from scoring esteemed team points. To view race splits, click HERE.
"I think that this was the day that both Sadie and I knew was her best shot to do something special," said head coach Jeremy Hecker. "This added to the pressure of her first NCAA, but she still skied a strong race. Looking at the effort she put in, there were no regrets on how she performed that day. This is a deep field and this will motivate her into making big gains going into next season."
15k Classical
In her final race of the season, the 15k classic, Peterson came away with another 38th-place finish, posting a time of 53:45.2.
"This race was her weaker of the two events, but being the second race of the week she put a lot less pressure on herself and was able to relax some before the race," remarked Hecker. "This helped out because as soon as the raced start, she was scrambling quite a bit and unfortunately found herself at the back of the field. The one thing I am most proud of her for this race was never giving up and letting go. When you get distanced off of the back, it is very easy to throw in the towel and just ski it in. Sadie never once thought about this and instead kept within sight of the next few ladies and was able to reel in a couple women on the last lap."
The Phoenix will use this meet as a learning experience, as Peterson has two more years to go in her collegiate career. "I think we both learned a lot about each other this week and have a lot of excitement looking ahead to the next two years of her career," added Hecker. "Sadie is still getting faster each year and there is no sign of that slowing down. We are both looking forward to see what the future will bring for both her and the team!
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