March 4, 2008 (Malles, Italy) – The U.S. Ski Team’s Liz Stephen made history on Feb. 28, taking bronze in the women’s 15km mass start in the U23 Nordic Worlds as three Americans finished in the top 11. It was the second straight year that U.S. women have won medals at the Championships – last year Laura Valaas took silver in the sprint.

Stephen, a student at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, added another notch to her podium status, landing in one of three coveted spots six times already this season at competitions including U.S. SuperTour races, Canadian NorAms and a silver medal at the U.S. Cross Country Championships in January. We caught up with Stephen while she’s in Europe competing.

When you thought about doing well at the U23 Championships did you
visualize standing on the podium?
Liz Stephen: I certainly had. That as one of my goals for the season, so, yes I suppose I did, but for it to actually happen is really cool. To know that two of my teammates would have been right with me if an unfortunate fall hadn’t taken place in the last kilometer of the race, is extremely exciting.

At what point in the race did you know you had a chance at the podium?
LS: Taz, Morgan and I skied together throughout the race and kept moving up in the pack. Coming up the last hill we were in second, third and fourth with a few other girls right there with us and I knew for sure that there was a shot.

Sometimes athletes talk about how they had a bad warm up leading into a great race result. Did that hold true for you?
LS: That has certainly happened to me many times, but I felt fairly good going into the race on Thursday. I think that once you get it into your head that it is race day and the goal is to go hard, how you feel warming up doesn’t always hold true to how you feel during the race.

It appears you were quite selective about what races you entered this year. Was it all in preparation for this week of racing?
LS: Not specifically for this week of racing. A lot of the selections this season had to do with the health and well being of my body for the long term. Sometimes you have to force yourself to look beyond the right here and now feelings and look further down the trail to the big goals, and for me that meant taking some extra time during parts of the season.

How have you found balancing training at such a high level and attending Westminster College?
LS: I only attend Westminster in the summer, and have not yet taken more than one class at a time, so the balancing act is not very difficult.

Congratulations on a stellar year and all the best down the road.
LS: Thanks