Team: Women’s Nordic skiing

Hometown: Mazaama, Wash.

Major: Computer science and statistics 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Ben Niewoehner (BN): How did you first get involved with Nordic skiing and why did you stick with it?

Greta Laesch (GL): It’s a big thing in the area I grew up in — I’m from the Methow Valley, which is a rural area in Washington state. Oddly, that’s just the thing to do there. My dad was a Master’s World Cup racer, and when I was in elementary and middle school, I only wanted to do soccer and basketball and the team sports. Then, in high school, I started Nordic skiing and just loved the people who did it. Everyone I met was weird and wonderful in such a fun way, and it was just a culture that I was called to.

BN: How has the team’s season gone this year and how has your personal season gone?

GL: Great! We just finished our season — definitely on a high note, which was really exciting. We had some excellent performances on our team. We scored some of the highest team scores that we’ve gotten in a long time. I personally had a good season, which I was really happy about. I got two personal bests, which was awesome. It was so fun to watch a bunch of my other teammates get personal bests, too. It is an individual sport, but it is also very much a team sport, and it is so fun to celebrate the team’s wins. We had a lot of those. 

BN: What does your training look like when there’s no snow? How do you stay in shape?

GL: When we are in season and there is no snow, which is for two months, we do a lot of running and strength training. We’re a big trail running team, which is for some reason a big Nordic skier thing. We’ll go on four- or five -hour trail runs on Sunday mornings. They’re awesome, big adventures. We also do roller skiing, which is the weirdest thing, probably ever. Everyone on the team has varying relationships with it, but it is essentially skiing on the road with wheels. You wear the same boots and you use the same poles, just with different tips. It’s kind of like rollerblading, except you are in Nordic ski boots and you have a free heel. It’s a way to maintain the specific strength and fitness, and work on technique.

BN: I’ve heard about a marathon you guys run every Mountain Day. Is this true?

GL: Yes! We love the Mountain Day marathon. It is such a highlight and I’m always so floored by how much of the team wants to do it and finishes it every year. We have a really awesome route that was determined by members of the team who have since graduated. It’s been a tradition for so long. I’ve done it all three years that I’ve been here for Mountain Day — I was abroad last fall. It’s not fast at all. We go very slow and see the sights. It’s such a fun time for team bonding.

BN: You’re a senior. What is your favorite memory from the Nordic ski team?

GL: This team is so special. We have such an incredible group, and some of my favorite moments have been just racing with my teammates. Sometimes, in big mass starts, we’ll do these hour-long races, and I’ll get to ski in a train with my teammates that I’ve skied with all year. That feels so rewarding, to go out and work really hard and really hurt together. I got to do that in my very last race on Saturday. We had a 15k at the University of New Hampshire, and I got to ski with two of my teammates for a lot of it and that was just so fun.

BN: How do you feel about being a couple of months away from graduation, both as an athlete and student at the College?

GL: So many things, right? It’s so exciting. I think that I’m at a good spot where I am so happy at Williams and loving my classes, my team, and my friends while still feeling that, when it comes to graduation, I’ll be ready to step out without anything holding me back.

BN: As a captain, what piece of advice would you give your team’s first-years?

GL: The advice I would give, especially considering what our team dynamic looks like, is to really lean on others. No matter who that is on the team — it could be the captains, it could be the sophomores, it could be anybody — leaning into the team as part of this individual sport is so important: Being able to communicate how you’re doing, even with school, with life, with anything. The team is so supportive. Just lean on those teammates and rely on them for that support.