Morgan Arritola ©USSA
Morgan Arritola ©USSA
Arritola has been a member of the US Continental team for a couple of seasons now and at the age of 22 she recorded a 24th place finish at the 2008 Canmore World Cups in the 15km Pursuit. Domestically she’s had a number of podium results including 2nd place finishes at the 2008 US Distance Championships. Recently she claimed first place in the skate distance race at the opening 2009 SuperTour weekend in West Yellowstone.
SkiTrax caught up with Arritola as she prepares for the 2009 US National Championship taking place at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, AK.
Last season you recorded your first World Cup top 30, finishing 24th in the 15km Pursuit in Canmore. Then at U23s in the 15km skate you were poised for a podium result before a crash near the finish. Did you think these great results were possible and how did they influence you?
Morgan Arritola: I think you have to believe anything is possible. I was confident in my fitness and after that all you can do is race. You never know what will happen and although the crash was unfortunate, I also learned a lot from it. The Canmore pursuit was a lot of fun and I had no expectations. It was my first World Cup so all I wanted to do was go as fast as I could on that day. It was a great experience and really awesome to see all of the top women racers. Both races gave me confidence in my ability and also made me want more out of myself as a racer and an athlete.
Following this success what were/are you goals for this season and are things on track?
MA: My goals are to ski consistently well through out the season. I would like to get another early season WC start, make U23s and race well in France, and continue to make progress in my international racing.
Are you continuing to build on your yearly training volumes? You mentioned doing more speed work is that still a focus?
MA: I am building on my yearly volumes and I have definitely upped my speed work as well. I really feel like I have benefited from that in many ways. I am still finding the balance between skiing well and trying to do it while going fast and I do feel it’s coming along. I was in Lake Placid, NY this summer for about three weeks and I think I made a lot of progress being at sea level and working on intensity training.
Rumor has it that you are can handle yourself quite well on a wakeboard or long board. Does that help your agility on skis?
MA: Yeah, I have always been someone who does a lot of other activities, many of which involve balance. As a kid it was something I was good at but never worked at, or realized I was working at it. I just did it and enjoyed it. I really think many of the things I love to do carry over to skiing.
You are originally from Sun Valley and when named to the US Continental Cup team in 2006 you moved to Park City. What precipitated your move back to Sun Valley last year?
MA: Sun Valley is my hometown and where a majority of my funding and support comes from. I really love living and training there. There are great things about living in Park City but for me Sun Valley is a better fit and it also allows me to be close with SVSEF (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation).
What do you look forward to most at the end of the racing season?
MA: I think this season I am going to be looking forward to a warm beach. I also look forward to just relaxing, spending time at home, and being a semi-normal human being for a few weeks.
Good luck at US Nationals!
MA: Thanks.