The Northeastern Huskies Alpine Skiing team is a United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) alpine skiing program that represents the Northeastern University. The Huskies are a member of the Thompson Division in the Eastern Conference (ECSC). They are currently based out of the main Northeastern University campus in Boston, Massachusetts.
The team is currently composed of 13 female and 13 male racers, skiing as individual teams for scoring purposes only. Since their school-sanctioned suspension for the entirety of the 2013 season, both teams went first in 8 of 11 regular season races during the 2014 season to handily win both Thompson Division championships, ski to their highest-place regionals finish in the past 15 years, and make their first team appearances at the USCSA National Championship in team history. So far, NUST has improved on last years marks, with the men's team winning 7 of a possible 9 season races and the girls winning all 9, the first time a team has gone undefeated during the Thompson Division regular season. Both teams advanced to the 2015 ECSC regionals held at West Mountain Ski Area, NY. Both the men's and women's teams also advanced to the 2016, 2017, and 2018 ECSC regionals events, also held annually at West Mountain, NY.
History
Northeastern boasted one of the best ski teams on the East Coast from the mid 1950s until late 1970s. In fact, it had the largest team budget on the East Coast- exemplified nicely by a huge Mercedes bus for weekend transportation. Ed Elliot was the Director of Alumni Affairs and coach in the late 60's and early 70's. Unfortunately, the program was cut due to budget restrictions at the university, which spanned the '80s and early 1990s. Finally, in 1992, student Michael Alekson reinstated the men’s team as a club sport (to be quickly followed by the women's side). NU consistently placed in the top 3 teams in the McBrine Division of the then NCSA (National Collegiate Ski Association, the predecessor to the USCSA). After 4 years in the McBrine Division, new head coach Chris Haigh along with team captain David McGrath strategically moved the Huskies into the more competitive Thompson Division; not only was the level of talent much greater in the new division, but races were closer in location relative to Boston, and also pitted NU against intra-city rival schools such as Boston University and Tufts. Fittingly enough, the Thompson Division in which Northeastern still competes was named after a decorated NU ski coach from the 1960s. Following a temporary one year hiatus, Dan Wigmore and Victoria Hone reformed the team for the 2014 season. The team quickly returned to form and has experienced great success since then.
Season-by-season standings Sources:
Season standings may only be traced to their archival inception of 1999, and are as follows:
Men's team Year Overall Record (Places) Overall Division Standing Regionals Nationals Head coach1234567891011121999671087788678thChris Haigh20006877788777767thChris Haigh2001566787654766thChris Haigh2002Season standings vacated20033443233333443rd9thChris Haigh200498109109101010101010thChris Haigh2005751088115942938thChris Haigh20066779109971069thChris Haigh200737556655875thT-11thChris Haigh200876765574576thChris Haigh200967256464555thChris Haigh201023434232T-2ndT-9thChris Haigh20113233243443rd8thChris Haigh201224211134643rd7thChris Haigh2013University-sanctioned suspension2014111421131111st5th9thDan Hutner201531411111411st6thMaddie Whittier2016111111111st5th
Women's team Year Overall Record (Places) Overall Division Standing Regionals Nationals Head coach123456789101112199994986797678thChris Haigh20003588788853887thChris Haigh2001875665565476thChris Haigh2002Season standings vacated2003787799101087888thChris Haigh200410999101010910101010thChris Haigh200575109111188889108thChris Haigh20069981010389417thChris Haigh2007102231245323rdT-11thChris Haigh200813444343343rd9thChris Haigh200934546228384thT-9thChris Haigh2010232824323rdT-10thChris Haigh20112344432343rd10thChris Haigh201232342323323rd11thChris Haigh2013University-sanctioned suspension2014311121112111st4th11thDan Hutner201511111111211st5thMaddie Whittier2016111111111st6th
References
External links