Becky Woods

HEAD COACH NORDIC SKIING
Becky Woods

A two-time EISA Coach of the Year, Becky Woods '89 has been the head Nordic skiing coach at Bates since 1994. A native of Auburn, Maine, she has coached four All-America winners, including Sylvan Ellefson '09, who was fourth in the 10K freestyle at the 2008 NCAA Championships.

During her collegiate career at Bates, she was a two-time captain, participated in three NCAA Championships and was a member of the All-East team. Woods received the Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame President's Award in 1996 and has served on the NCAA skiing rules comittee since 1998.

Email: rwoods@bates.edu

Office Phone: 207.786.6339

Martin Benes

ASSISTANT COACH NORDIC SKIING
Martin Benes

Martin Benes '07 returns to Bates, where he was a four-year member of the team and served as co-captain his senior year. After departing Bates with a B.A. in Classical and Medieval Studies, he returned to his home club in California where he coached junior skiers at the regional and national levels.

Last winter Martin returned to New England as an assistant with the Dartmouth College Ski Team. He returned to California this past summer to continue working with the juniors he has coached through two Junior Nationals.

Martin is glad to rejoin the Bates team and is looking forward to working with a talented group of athletes this winter. Off the trails, Martin will be helping out Coach Flynn on the links as the Golf team assistant.

Email: mbenes@bates.edu

Office Phone: 207.755.5954

Bob Flynn

ASSISTANT COACH NORDIC SKIING
Bob Flynn

Coach Flynn posesses a impressive history in the Bates Athletics department through his continuous, untiring involvement for more than 40 years.

He was head skiing coach at Bates from 1968 to 1990 and was instrumental in the program's move to Division I competition in 1972, and in bringing the 1976 NCAA Skiing Championships to Bates. Flynn was also head baseball coach from 1991 to 1999. He is a member of the Lewiston-Auburn Sports Hall of Fame, the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame and the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

In addition to Skiing and Baseball, in 2008 Flynn also returned to the helm as the Head Coach of Men's and Women's Golf, a position he held previously from 1990 to 1998.

Email: rflynn@bates.edu

Office Phone: 207.786.6441

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BATES NORDIC BLOG

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Back from NCAAs

Mid-morning in Steamboat.
Well, the final week of the college racing season is over. We got back from our week in Steamboat Springs on Sunday night. It was a great week all around. Wonderful weather, perfect tracks, plenty of snow, etc. Nat had an awesome attitude all week. The two went race days went smoothly, with Nat posting 18th in the classic, and 32nd in the skate. The Mass Start Skate was a tough day, but Nat skied a strong race and posted a solid result in 32nd. On Friday night, it was great to watch 'Piner Ben Manter post a 10th place finish in the night slalom for an All-American finish. Also, a huge thanks to Abby for being out there cheering on her teammates and providing the coaches with a seemingly endless supply of coffee.

The (Rodeo) Stadium on race morning.
Meanwhile, back in Maine, we had Lucas and Kelsey competing up at Junior Olympics. Both had great results up in Presque Isle competing in their final years as Juniors. Lucas finished 8th in the classic sprints, 9th in classic distance, and an 11th in the skate distance. Also, his relay team earned the 4th spot for OJ men. Kelsey ended up 24th in both classic races, and 26th in the skate distance race. She also posted the 9th fastest scramble leg time for OJ women. Congrats to both of them on great JO results.
A final shout-out to Kirsten for winning the Ski to the Clouds race up Mt. Washington.

Kir ripping it up. (Great Glen Photo)

Friday, March 12, 2010

Steamboat Springs and NCAAs

Just a quick update from the past several days in Steamboat Springs, CO. We got here last Saturday, after a long day of travel from Maine. The skiing has been great out here! There's plenty of snow, and a few storms this week brought in a few more inches. One of the storms happened to coincide with the classic race. The waxing was a little tricky, but we got Nat on some skis that had solid kick and were pretty fast on the downs. Natalie skied a great race. Really smart, relaxed, and technically strong. The result was an 18th place finish. Top-20 had been her goal going into that race. Mission accomplished. Tomorrow we move to the 15 km skate race. Should be a good one...

Monday, March 8, 2010

Goggles On

Another great day of training at Lost Valley...

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Midd Carnival

Last weekend marked the final Carnival of the year, also serving as the Eastern Regional Championships. Due to some unpredictable weather last week, the racing was postponed to Saturday and Sunday. On Friday morning we headed over to Middlebury, stopping to ski at Rikert before settling in.
On Friday night, we had our banquet, and everyone was looking pretty classy due to the "business casual" dress code. The Academic All-Americans were announced, with a strong crew from Bates Nordic represented. Nat, Abby, Cooper, Smeltzer, Corey, and Lucas all garnered the honors.
Saturday saw the 10/5 km Classic races. The weather conditions were all over the place, and most of our team ended up going on zeroes. They weren' t awesome, but they were the most consistent and predictable. Ultimately, it was a very good day. Beth posted a career-best finish with 9th place on the day, which was awesome to see. Nat continued her strong season with 13th. Kir rounded out the scoring in 23rd. Behind those three, the women skied to a 4th place finish on the day. On the men's side, Senior Cooper lead the way with 17th, besting his 20th place from last weekend's classic race. Captain Harry had a solid race to end up in 27th, and Lucas was our third scorer in 35th.

The Start of the Women's Race (Lincoln Benedict Photo)
On Sunday, the weather was warm and the early tracks were fast. The 15 km Women's race started things off. Nat and Beth once again lead the way, finishing in 13th and 14th. Captain Abby had a strong finish to her collegiate career with 24th, fighting the entire race. Gretch and Megan rounded out the team, in 29th and 38th. For the men's team, Lucas lead the way. He picked up spots through the entire race, and finished a career-best 14th place. Cooper wasn't far behind in 16th. Harry had a solid outing, ending up in 33rd. Danny and Corey ended up in 53rd and 55th. It was a solid end to the Carnival season this year. Congrats to our team for a great season. Nat will be heading out to Steamboat to represent Bates at NCAA Championships, hosted by Colorado-Boulder. She is joined by two men from the Alpine Team in forming the Bates contingent.
This weekend was the last collegiate racing action for Abby, Harry, Cooper, and Smeltzer. They have all given so much to this program over the last four years, and they will certainly be missed when they graduate in May. A special thanks to Captains Abby and Harry for all their hard work this year.