Cardinals' new head coach hoping to
add stability to SMU nordic programs

WINONA, Minn. — When Kelly Skillicorn held her preseason team meeting, she might have considered wearing one of those little sticker/name tags that said, “Hello, my name is …”

After all, Skillicorn is the third Saint Mary’s University nordic ski coach in the last three years.

“Having a new coach every year can be a difficult thing — both for the athletes and for the coach,” admitted Skillicorn, who replaced Ben Popp, who left Saint Mary’s after one season to accept a position with the U.S. Olympic Development Program and coach four Olympic hopefuls from the Twin Cities and northern Wisconsin. “The secret to any successful program is stability. The athletes need some time to adjust to the coach’s philosophies and training regimens, and the coach needs some time to adjust to the abilities of the athletes.

“If you have to start at ground zero year after year after year, it’s pretty tough to build that stability.”

Skillicorn does inherit a rather talented group of Cardinals skiers, which makes this year’s transition a little bit easier.

“We haven’t had a lot of time outside, but from what I’ve seen so far (from preseason dryland and the few outdoor workouts), I’m pretty happy.”

Skillicorn admits that, while the Cardinals teams were rather impressive in the inaugural Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships a year ago (the men placed fourth and the women were third), her plan is to bring a conference crown to the SMU campus in the near future.

“I think there’s a lot of potential with this group,” said Skillicorn. “We’ve got some talented skiers here, skiers who can help build a strong foundation for this program.

“My philosophy is to bring in high expectations and have the athletes rise to them,” Skillicorn continued. “My approach (to building the SMU nordic ski program into a conference power) is that it’s going to take a little time for us to get where we want to be — and that’s at the top of the MIAC.

“It’s more of a long-range plan.”

Long range, which means Skillicorn is planning to put a lock on the revolving door to the SMU nordic ski coach’s office.

Which most certainly brings a sigh of relief from SMU skiers like seniors Pete Schweich (Red Wing, Minn.) and Reghann LaFrance (Duluth, Minn.), as well as junior Amy Henjum (Woodbury, Minn.), who are all skiing under their third collegiate coach.

“Everyone’s been working very hard since we got going (with dryland) on Oct. 2,” said Skillicorn, whose team opens its season Dec. 9-10 at the Ironwood (Mich.) Invitational. “It’ll be nice to see where we’ve at when we do finally get into a competition.”

Skillicorn knows a thing or two about competitive skiing, having been an all-conference skier during her four years at Montana State University. Skillicorn was also a member of the U.S. cross country ski team for five years, while also competing in three U.S. Olympic Trials and two World University Games.

And it’s that knowledge she hopes to be able to share with her teams — for years to come.