As if being named the best ski team in the country wasn’t enough, the UNM Ski team added more to its arsenal of awards.
Besides having a terrific performance at the Jade Enterprises/New Mexico Invitational on Feb. 5-6 in Red River and Taos, and finishing first as a team, the Lobos had a few individuals earn weekly awards.
Four UNM skiers were honored by The Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association for their performances at the invitational.
Anne Cecilie Brusletto and Thomas Schwab were named RMISA Skiers of the Week for women’s and men’s Alpine, while Polina Ermoshina and Pierre Niess received the women’s and men’s Nordic award.
Schwab, a junior from Gröbming, Austria, finished just a few tenths of a second behind fellow Lobo Peter Brenna in the men’s alpine race at the Jade Enterprises/New Mexico Invitational.
Schwab said winning the awards is confirmation of how well the team has performed collectively this season.
“I think our home-meet victory was one of the biggest victories ever for us in conference,” Schwab said. “It was pretty impressive, and since we are ranked No. 1, we are all getting in shape for (the NCAA) finals, and I am happy to help the team out with my performance.”
The team finished in first place after the first day of competition with victories in three of four events.
Brenna, Polina Ermoshina and Martin Kaas won three of the four events on the first day of the competition, with six other Lobos finishing in the top 10.
Ermoshina, a senior and the national classic runner-up for the past two seasons, won the second classic race of her career in her final home meet as a Lobo.
She also helped the women’s Nordic squad.
Ermoshina successfully finished with a time of 16:56 in the Women’s 5,000-meter Classic, giving UNM 109 points and the victory.
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Ermoshina said her accomplishments motivate the rest of the Lobo Ski team to do better.
“When you see people on your own team succeeding, and when they get first, you have to keep up with your own standard,” she said. “It kind of puts pressure on the rest of the team, and it does get more challenging, but that is what I like. When Martin did well in the first race, you know the rest of the guys are looking up at him and it’s nice to have him on the team. So, now the rest of the team knows what the standard is for the rest of the day.”
