Rogan Connell

HEAD COACH ALPINE SKIING
Rogan Connell

Rogan Connell has been the head alpine coach at Bates since the 2001-2002 season, making this his 9th full year at the helm. The program has undergone consistent changes for the better since his arrival, be it through the gaining of top recruits for each upcoming season or the further, continuous development of his present athletes. In 2005 Connell was named EISA Coach of the Year.

Before coming to Bates, Connell was the Director of Skiing at St. Michaels College for two seasons. He was also the assistant head coach at Ford Sayre Academy in Hanover, NH, where he coached Roger Brown, who was yet to both become an NCAA All-American as well as a US Ski Team member.

Before his coaching career, Connell attended the University of New Hampshire. He graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in Earth Science, in addition to being a two time letter winner for UNH Alpine Skiing.

Email: rconnell@bates.edu

Office Phone: 207.786.6346

Dan Loman

ASSISTANT COACH ALPINE SKIING
Dan Loman

Loman begins his second season as the Assistant Alpine Ski Coach after graduating from Bates in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. In his time as a 4 year letter winner for Bates Skiing he competed in the 2007 NCAA championships and as a senior was named captain.

This season Loman looks to aid the Bates Alpine team with a fresh eye. He hopes that by being fresh out of the system he will be able to provide valuable input in the ever-changing sport. Loman will also be skiing competitvely this year, in many cases racing alongside/against his athletes. He anticipates the added level of competition will benefit everyone involved.

Before his times at Bates, Loman attended Killington Mountain School.

Email: dloman@bates.edu

Office Phone: 207.755.6346

Lauren McAllister

STUDENT ASSISTANT / TEAM MANAGER
Lauren McAllister

McAllister begins this year in a new role. Due to some unfortunate head injuries she has been sidelined from racing, but because of her desire to remain with the team and our reluctance to lose such a strong leader and great helper, she is back with us as a student assistant/team manager.

She was also named a co-captain of the team this year and has already shown that she is prepared to guide the underclassmen both on and off the hill throughout the season.

 

 

Bates Skiing
Subscribe to the Bates Alpine Blog
Email:

 

BATES ALPINE BLOG

Click Here to View our Youtube Channel!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A New Season is Fast Approaching

Hi everyone,

So its already happening. The days and nights are consistently getting colder, the leaves are beginning to change, and the first frosts have started to turn up all over northern New England. Sunday River is also feeling the early season itch, they started testing their snow guns on September 26th this year, nearly 1 month earlier than last years first tests on October 19th!

Up at Bates things are moving along very well. Rogan and I are starting to get things prepped for the season (our season officially starts on November 3rd, already less than a month away!), and I think we are both happy to have a little more downtime compared to last year when we were getting everything all set for NCAA's.
We have decided to change things up a little bit for our early season this year deciding to try our luck hosting our Thanksgiving camp at Sunday River instead of the usual trip to the large mountains of the west. The past few years we have gone out either to Colorado or to Mount Hood, but since the skiing during that time has always been superb at Sunday River, we are going to save some time and money and hope this year is a repeat of the recent past. Our skiers will also have the chance to eat Thanksgiving with their families for the first time in a while (Sorry Ben, Thanksgiving in Vermont will be delicious too!).
Looking ahead our team is looking young but talented, with strong returning members and several Freshman who are eager to compete alongside their new teammates. We will have 6 returning Juniors in men's co-captains John Canney and Ben Manter, women's co-captains Micaela Holland and Lauren McAllister and consistent contributors Ross Brockman and August Felix. For Sophomores we have Bump Heldman, Alex Jones, Josh Fancy, and Kristin Waddle all looking to outperform their class' impressive showing of last year. Finally, our Freshman are looking ready to make an impact on the circuit right away, including Jeff Lathrop, Stefan Lyons, Zoe Livingston and Caitlin Forbes. Overall our team looks strong. Even though we only have 4 women we are not worried, we are instead extremely excited about what kind of results all of our athletes will bring to the Bates Alpine Team this season.
We would like to say 'Hi' to several of our aforementioned team members who are seeing what things are like on the wild side, deciding to go abroad for the first semester of this year. Micaela is currently sweating it out in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, August is taking care of things in the north, traveling around Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ross is pretending to be abroad while getting jacked and tan somewhere in Hawaii. Regardless of where they are, they are missed and the whole team can't wait for them to get back.
Along with a new season comes the realization that we don't have everyone returning. With the end of last school year and the start of this new one, the Bates Alpine team has been forced to say goodbye to graduates of the class of '09: Megan Papineau, Liz Thompson and Emily Sampson. This group of girls was the focal point of perhaps the strongest 4 years in the history of the Bates Alpine Women's team. To say they will be sorely missed is an understatement. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to have 2/3rds of that class come visit on homecoming weekend, where Liz was the recipient of the senior citation award for her amazing contributions to the team over the past 4 years. (Thanks for coming Liz and Emily, and Megan we know you are busy with school but are very excited to see you at some of the races this season.)
Finally we would like to do something that is long overdue. We would like to thank everyone for helping us put on a great NCAA's last year. Everything went smoother than we had anticipated and were it not for all of your help, it would have been impossible. Thank you all again for your continued support, we can't wait to see you on the hill again this year.

-Dan and Rogan

P.S. It was great seeing all the parents this past weekend, thank you for toughing out the gross weather and coming to visit. We hope you enjoyed the bbq for both the food and for the much needed warmth those coals were providing. See you soon.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home