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Save Gustavus Nordic Skiing

658 Comments

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Arthur Tran
12 years ago

I couldn't imagine having something I've been working so hard for taken from under me. Keep it up you guys and the best of luck.

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Steven Clay
12 years ago

I am a Gustie, class of '91. I grew up nordic skiing and plan to ski the rest of my life. This sport is part of the DNA of Scandinavia, and should be kept as a varsity sport!

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Gary Black
12 years ago

If Minnesota colleges dont have Nordic as a varsity sport what does that say about about Minnesota? Should we all switch to hockey for our lifelong sport?

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Luke Foley
12 years ago

Keep the team varsity

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Lauren Harden
12 years ago

I spent one season on the GAC Nordic team. I was not hard-core enough to keep up with the amazing athletes who pursue Nordic Skiing at the collegiate level. To take away this opportunity from them is a travesty. To think that a club team offers the same opportunities as an NCAA varsity sport is a fallacy. Bring it back!

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Arielle Benoit
12 years ago

SAVE THEIR SPORT!!!

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Thomas Knox
12 years ago

Cardio sports should always form a major part of any collegiate athletics program. And any cardio athlete who has ever stepped on a set of Nordic skis know it is the most demanding of the heart/lung sports. I say this as a past National Cycling Champion. Nordic skiing not only provides a great competitive atmosphere to develop character in the student athlete, it is also a sport that can help participants maintain peak fitness for their entire life. Add to this, the simple fact that Nordic Skiing is ideally suited to the Minnesota winters that have yet to enjoy the effects of global warming. Please reconsider, and if not I encourage you student athletes to consider the University of Colorado Boulder where you will not be treated as second class citizens.

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Kayna Anderson
12 years ago

Disappointed in Gustavus

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Megan Smith
12 years ago

As a former Blazer skier, I fought to save our ski team when it was demoted to club status. The administration is acting under the illusion that a club ski team is no different than a varsity team. And I assure you from experience, that is not the case. Skiers are passionate, competitive athletes who push themselves physically and mentally harder than any other athlete. Nordic skiing should be in the "interests of the college." It made Gustavus unique among other liberal arts colleges in the country. Countless students choose colleges like GAC for the ability to compete as NCAA athletes while receiving a quality education—if they wanted a club team, they’d go elsewhere. The ski team consistently boasts the highest GPA; aren't those the students you want to attract to your school? Instead of cutting the program, MN colleges should invest in their ski teams and build stronger programs so that their athletes may represent our MN DIII schools at the Regional and National level, competing against DI programs.

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Nick Power
12 years ago

They have had a successful team in past years. Why not cut something else? This is probably one of their most successful sports at the college.

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Kelsey Dickinson
12 years ago

Please save Gustavus! This is a huge blow to the Nordic community.

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Brian Allen
12 years ago

Minnesota has the best high school nordic ski program in the US. The cutting of this successful program needs to be reversed!

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Devin Arenz
12 years ago

When you have students that enroll into the school simply because of the team, why would you cut such an asset. Keep academic and nordic talent in MN.

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Megan Hatfield
12 years ago

As a nordic skier myself, I do not approve of the way the school has handled this. Save the NCAA version of this team!

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Clare Brandt
12 years ago

Nordic Skiing is such a fun and unique sport, cutting it would remove something special about this school forever.

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isaac sammis
12 years ago

love skiing!

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Linda Hudson
12 years ago

My experience with Nordic student athletes epitomizes the kind of young people we want as our future leaders. Many students consider Gustavus because of the strong Nordic ski program. What you get with a Nordic skier, is a student who values hard work and life balance. What school wouldn't want to attract that kind do student leader.

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Maria
12 years ago

The ski community is behind you!

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Andrew Leaf
12 years ago

America's premier Swedish heritage college can't support a nordic ski team? Pathetic.