Chelsea Stevens entered the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Assocation (USCSA) Eastern Regionals with relatively minimal expectations. Qualifying for nationals merely lingered in the back of the sophomore's mind.
Once she finished fifth in the giant slalom, however, she knew she had a shot.
Though the women's team finished sixth overall at Sugarloaf (Maine) this past weekend and ultimately fell just short of making a run at the region's top squads in the team standings, Stevens will carry the torch at nationals from March 7-9 at Sunday River in Maine after finishing as the highest-ranked skier from a non-qualifying team.
Stevens finished fifth in the slalom as well, ranking fourth overall in the region, perhaps a surprising result to her.
"GS is usually my weaker event, and I knew that there was another girl competing for the individual spot who was really good at it," Stevens said.
The difficulties were compounded by the weather, which dropped two feet of snow on the mountain on Friday. This delayed the start of the event, limiting each skier to just one run.
"I was nervous about the soft conditions on the course, but the one run actually worked to my advantage because I typically ski better on the first run than the second," Stevens said. "But I'm glad that everything worked out."
The men's team, likewise, failed to qualify for nationals, coming in 12th after just two of five skiers finished the slalom event. The rest fell or were disqualified.
Though Stevens will compete alone next weekend, she remains optimistic about the team's future.
"I feel like we really grew as a team this year," she said. "[Sophomore] Sara [Hanneman] did really well, and I think that in future years we'll have the ability to compete for a team nationals spot if we continue to get good skiers."
