Red, White and Blue

JC Schoonmaker has finished in the points in every individual-start World Cup race he's ever competed in!  That's a perfect record!  

When you're scoring World Cup points in every World Cup you compete in, it seems pretty obvious that the US Ski Team would want you on their roster.  So it was no surprise to me when the National Team announced last week that JC made the cut and will be on the US Development Team henceforth.

If you don't know JC already, I guess you'll want to get to know him pretty soon. In my capacity as a volunteer assistant, I'm completely outside of the recruiting side of things, and I only find out who our new skiers are when they show up as freshmen for the first day of team training in the fall.  So I was pretty unfamiliar with JC a couple years ago when he arrived here. I wasn't really following junior results so didn't know who he was. Andrew, the head coach, told me that it was his understanding that JC was a likable, smart guy and a hard worker. So perhaps, if he was ready to come to UAA and really commit to becoming a fast skier... there was potential.

On the other hand, JC's friend and former Seawolf Brandon Herhusky was talking him up big time! Brandon was pretty adamant that Andrew and Marine needed to recruit JC and that he was going to become really good.  "Just wait and see" said Brandon.

I was immediately impressed by the way JC approached his first couple months of training when he arrived here as a freshman in 2018. Always on time, prepared, focused, just kind of quietly doing his thing, and not drawing much attention to himself.  So maybe that's why I was a little surprised when the racing season started and he was finishing near the top of the result sheets.  Before I quite realized what was happening, he'd almost qualified for World Juniors, he'd gotten himself an RMISA podium result, and he qualified for NCAAs.  His freshman year caught me by surprise a little bit, but it wasn't a surprise for JC. He was disappointed that he didn't qualify for World Juniors, and he wasn't satisfied with his results at the NCAA Championships, either.

Obviously JC worked hard last summer, because he raised his game again this past winter as a sophomore. He won the qualifying round at the US Nationals sprint race, which qualified him to race in a World Cup in Germany in January. Though he hasn't won any college races yet, he's been steadily climbing the result lists in the RMISA races and was an NCAA All-American this past year, as a sophomore.

But it's his World Cup success that got JC a spot on the national team. His college coach needed to talk him into flying to Dresden for the race, but it looks like he made the right decision in agreeing to attend.  I don't know if any American junior skiers have ever scored World Cup points in the past, but I doubt it.  

Photo credit:  Faster Skier

This US Ski Team nomination will give JC some training opportunities that can help accelerate his progress - training camps with his contemporaries like Schumacher, Jager, Ogden, Wonders, etc. Surrounding yourself with good, high-achieving athletes goes a long way to improving your game. In my view, JC's in a great spot right now, with his regular training group of very fast, motivated college teammates, combined with occasional training opportunities with a handful of guys who aspire to be future World Cup winners. For someone with JC's work ethic and focus, there's a real opportunity for him to make big gains this coming year.

The days of me being surprised by JCs results are probably behind me now. I think maybe I've joined the Brandon Herhusky cheerleading squad. This coming year, it's going to take a lot for JC to impress me. I've made some adjustments in my thinking and my expectations are quite high.