WINONA, Minn. — Ben Popp may be new to the cross country skiing scene at Saint Mary’s University, but don’t let the Cardinals’ first-year head coach’s boyish looks fool you — he’s anything but a neophyte around the nordic ski circuit.

A 1996 graduate of St. Olaf College, Popp has spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Carleton, where his men’s team captured the USCSA national championship, while the women’s team finished third overall.

In other words, the man knows a few things about nordic skiing.

So, when Popp says that the Cardinals have a legitimate shot at winning the first-ever nordic skiing conference championship, who’s going to argue with him?

“Obviously, Carleton and St. Olaf are the cream of the crop in the MIAC, but I really like what I’ve seen so far from the athletes here at Saint Mary’s,” said Popp, who took over for John Skemp, who stepped down as SMU’s nordic ski coach after the 1998-99 season.

This season marks a new chapter for Division III nordic skiing in the Midwest.

After years of having no conference affiliation, and being forced to compete only on a regional basis with the likes of NCAA Division I powers UW-Green Bay, Alaska-Fairbanks and Northern Michigan, the MIAC’s nordic ski teams will finally have something all other MIAC sports have — a conference championship.

And it’s about time.

“This is a great step for the conference and for all the schools involved,” said Popp. “Now, some of the less-experienced teams in the conference will get to compete on a more level playing field. Instead of always having to go up against Northern Michigan, Fairbanks and those bigger, more powerful schools, they will get the chance to compete against schools that are basically in the same boat as they are.

“Sure, we will still face those schools on the regional level, but for the more inexperienced schools, they will have something else to focus on — and that’s competing for the conference championship.”

And Popp figures his Cardinals have as good a shot as any team at bringing home that inaugural MIAC crown — provided Mother Nature decides to cover the ground with the fluffy white stuff in the near future.

“Everyone’s eager to get out and start skiing,” admitted Popp. “We’ve really had some great (dryland) training, but after a while it gets pretty tough to not be working out on snow.

“Especially in December.”

Popp knows that he really won’t get a feel for just how good his teams are until they can finally strap on their skis and get on the trails, but so far, he likes what he’s been seeing.
“Everyone’s been working very hard and at this stage, that’s a very positive sign,” he said. “Where we are at in terms of the rest of the teams in the conference, and how much more work we have left are questions that I still don’t have answers to.

“Once we get some snow, and get a couple of races under our belts, then I’ll have a little better handle on where we are at.”

If Popp’s preseason hunch is correct, where the Cardinals are at is on the fast track to the conference’s first-ever nordic ski championship.