by Ted Ryan

Caroline Carpenter never doubted where she would pursue her education once she graduated from Champlain Valley Union High School. "St. Lawrence has always been the school I’ve thought about," said Carpenter, a sophomore at the Canton, N.Y., university. "My dad graduated from there in ’81. It’s always been in the family discussion and I’ve heard all his stories," said the Shelburne resident.

Still, a family legacy would not have provided sufficient pull for Carpenter had St. Lawrence not offered her the opportunity to pursue a liberal arts education while skiing competitively at the highest collegiate level. "As I started to become successful in skiing … I knew St. Lawrence had a strong program and potentially I could participate and be successful," said Carpenter, who skied for four years at CVU, where she also participated in cross country running, soccer for two years, and lacrosse for three.

"After I visited here, I felt I connected with the athletes and that’s important in that a lot of St. Lawrence students are athletes," Carpenter said. "We have the same kind of devotion to something outside of school." Carpenter is a cross country skier, competing for the Saints on the Eastern Intercollegiate Association (EISA) Winter Carnival circuit. Most carnivals offer two events for women, a shorter classical style race, and a longer freestyle, or "skating," race. "I waver back and forth," said Carpenter of which technique she preferred. "As [Coach] Ethan [Townsend] was saying, it’s a matter of confidence and it can be back-and-forth even within a season. I do feel a little more confidence in skating, but I’m getting the same results."

As a freshman a year ago, Carpenter had three top 20 finishes, including a 13th in the 15-kilometer freestyle in SLU’s own carnival. This year, she again was 13th in the SLU 15K freestyle. This past weekend, at the University of Vermont carnival in Stowe, Carpenter placed 36th in the 5K classical and 34th in the 10K freestyle. "She definitely had a solid freshman year," said Townsend, the Saints’ Nordic ski coach. "She’s not been quite so good her second season. "I expect her to be a regular top three for us. She could be top three for us in [classical] or skating," he said. "Right now, I’d say her better performances do tend to be in freestyle." And the longer the race, the better Carpenter performs, said Townsend. "I don’t think she’d consider herself a really strong sprinter," he said. "She’s had good races at 5K and 15K, drawing on her aerobic conditioning." Carpenter concurred: "I enjoy the longer distances between 5 and 15K. My best results are in the 10Ks and 15Ks."

With a slow start to her sophomore year, Carpenter has to make up ground to achieve her goal of qualifying for the NCAA national championships. The top 13 women, based upon the carnival circuit point system, will represent the East in the NCAAs. "It’s always been a goal of mine. I keep checking the standings. I don’t think they’re out of reach, but … I’ll need a few more outstanding races to be in the picture," she said.

A government major, Carpenter said she has little spare time, especially during the ski season. Even much of her non-skiing activity tends to be unofficial training, such as biking or hiking with her friends and teammates. Meanwhile, Carpenter will concentrate on the next two carnivals, at Dartmouth and Williams, followed by the Eastern championships at Middlebury College, with the goal of still reaching the NCAAs, hosted by Colorado College this year.