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<strong>Colorado's Class of 2014 makes their decisions...</strong></p>
It's a long trip to New Hampshire for Hannah Peterson, but that's where the Nordic programs hide out. Colorado Track XC file photo.
Hannah Peterson's best marks:
1600 meters - 5:48.62 (at altitude)
3200 meters - 12:11.92 (at altitude)
5K cross country - 18:51.8
Hannah, there's some history of the cross country/Nordic combination here in Colorado. The names of Noah Hoffman--a member of the 2014 US Winter Olympics team--and Glenn Randall come quickly to mind. Tell us a little about your Nordic background...
I began Nordic skiing in 8th grade because I knew some of the kids on the Durango Nordic team. I reluctantly did a few local races that year and found myself off the back a bit. My freshman year I really wanted to improve and decided to travel with the team to all the regional races. This is also when I began running cross country mostly to help me improve my fitness for Nordic. That year I was the last one from the Rocky Mountain Region to qualify for Junior Nationals in Minneapolis. This experience was amazing to me, and it was at this point I really fell in love with the sport. The following year I really focused on my skiing and running and qualified for Junior Nationals as one of the top Rocky Mountain skiers. At Junior Nationals I earned All-American honors--top ten--in all four events. Leading into my senior year I knew I needed to improve my core and upper body strength in order to meet my goals leading into college. I feel this increased strength is one of the biggest reasons for my improvement in both running and skiing. After a somewhat disappointing Junior year, the strength training has helped me become the top ranked high school senior on the USSA points list.
It's my understanding that you're going to New Hampshire primarily for Nordic. If I'm wrong about that, please correct me. More to the point, though, tell us a little about the cross country/Nordic connection.
I am going to UNH for both Cross Country and Nordic, but, yes, primarily Nordic. Cory Schwartz, the Head Coach for Nordic, really sold me on the strong relationship between the two programs at their school. He explained that they often train together and that he has had several athletes in the past compete in both sports. I then spoke to Coach Hopp, the Cross Country coach, and he explained he works with his runners individually and since I was a Nordic skier I would have a different training program that would help me in both sports.
You excelled on the more difficult cross country courses this season, do you figure that your Nordic background helped you in those cases?
It has always been a case of the harder the course the better for me. Since I began Nordic so late, my technique wasn't as strong as my competitors so I had to make up my time on the climbs. Over time this gave me a confidence on the hills which has definitely translated to my running. Additionally, the increased core strength I developed for Nordic, I strongly feel helped my running especially on tougher courses. This increased my level of confidence significantly.
What decided things in New Hampshire's favor over all your other options?
There were a few reasons I chose UNH over the other schools. First and foremost, the conversations I had with Coach Cory made me feel like this would be a really nice fit for me. He was great to work with and I am very excited to be a part of his program as one of the top ski teams in the nation. He currently has a very strong team with some of the top young skiers. After speaking with Coach Hopp about the cross country program, I became even more excited about the prospect of UNH. Second, although I love Colorado, I thought it would be a great experience to go somewhere totally different. Lastly, although I will be far away from home, my family's roots are from the Northeast and I still have a lot of family in New York and New England.
What will you be studying at UNH?
I will be studying education with a focus on special education. My high school has a program called "kids to kids" where they team up a student with a special ed student, and this is when I realized this was something I wanted to pursue as a career.
Do you have any big Nordic competitions coming up? Any particular goals in mind for those?
I have a few of my bigger races still to come with two Junior National qualifier races in February and Junior Nationals the first week of March in Stowe, Vermont. My early season results enabled me to pre-qualify for Junior Nationals so my main remaining goal for this season is to place on the podium at Junior Nationals!
Will we see you on the track this spring?
Although I seem to have a mental struggle with running around flat circles, I have decided to run track this Spring. I love the social aspect, and I feel I can benefit from one more season with Coach Mac.
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Although we should be seeing Hannah Peterson on the track, as she indicated above, this spring, if you really want to see her at her best, I guess you need to seek out the Nordic races. I'll try to make it a point to find out about the results of those races and post as comments to this article. And, who knows, perhaps one day Ms. Peterson will be joining Noah Hoffman as one of Colorado's cross country Olympians.