Expect nothing, leave with everything &- the Boston University Snowboarding Team, the largest club team on campus with over 120 members, is new to competition. Despite their inexperience, however, the BUST has swept the local competition away in a blistering dash for medals and respect on the national scene.
“You go in expecting nothing then come out with a bunch of medals. We’ve been so successful this season it’s incredible,” said School of Management senior and BUST member Lauren Dunlop.
While this is only the second year the team has competed in United States of America Snowboard Association competitions, BUST has medaled in nearly every event it has entered in the Southern Vermont Series, according to the team’s website.
Because of their success this season, five BUST members &- seniors Katie Basse, Katie Moore, Mike Curry, John Aasen and Dunlop will compete in the 2010 USASA National Championships in Copper Mountain, Colo., against some of the best snowboarders from around the country.
The five are talented in their own rights. Dunlop is ranked first in the nation in the women’s boardercross event. Moore and Basse are ranked 13th and 18th respectively. Aasen and Curry are ranked 18th and 36th in the men’s boardercross.
“I didn’t really have high expectations for myself this year, and I didn’t expect to get invited to nationals or anything, but it kind of just fell out that way,” Curry said, belying a humility displayed by many of the team’s members.
Despite their talents, BUST members haven’t always had the opportunity to show their athleticism off on a national stage.
“I’ve wanted to compete all four years, but this is the only year it really worked out for me,” Moore said. “Last year a couple of people competed and sort of blazed a trail for us. And hopefully next year even more will follow.”
Last season, Basse paved the way for all of these BU athletes when she was the first from the team to attend nationals. That year, she placed 13th in the slopestyle event.
“I’m a really competitive person,” Basse said of facing the challenge of national competition. “It’s a way to just snowboard more, it’s a way to have our team be taken more seriously by the BU community, by our sponsors, by the people we compete against and by people who are thinking about joining the club.
“Going to nationals helps all of that.”
The USASA nationals competition is one of the largest snowboarding competitions in the world &- the 2009 version of nationals saw over 1,500 snowboarders compete. Even though the sheer number of competitors is intense, the atmosphere is not, according to Basse.
“Everyone is very positive and just glad to be there to snowboard and progress the sport,” Basse said. “It was really exciting. I had no idea what to expect from the other competitors.”
The laid-back ambiance of the competition is just how BUST members like it &- in most of their competitions prior to nationals, members primarily competed against other team members due to a lack of outside opponents.
Moore mentioned that having only really competed against her fellow BUST members in the Vermont series was a good arena for “friendly competition without a lot of pressure.”
Moore and the other members of BUST all said the communal nature of the team will help make nationals a positive experience for the five competitors.
“It’s good to have some camaraderie, someone to encourage you,” Moore said. “I think it’s going to be a great opportunity to get some great snowboarding in, to get some good competition and just have a lot of fun.
“There’s a great social aspect to that. It’s a lot of fun. But I also think that it’s helped me develop as a snowboarder more than I would have without the team’s presence.”
While they have delved more into competition this year than ever before, the BUST prides itself on its recreational side in which the vast majority of its members solely participate. Every Sunday, the team travels to mountains in Vermont to practice, constructively critique each other’s style and just have fun.
“That’s what it’s always been,” Dunlop said. “That’s how we have our community. The snowboard team community is all based on just enjoying the sport we love.”
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