Two Mainers bound for Lillehammer

Dorcas Wonsavage of Farmington was named to the U.S. Olympic cross country ski team for the third time Sunday, and Marcus Nash of Fryeburg became a first-time Olympian following competition in Anchorage, Alaska.

Wonsavage, who finished 44th in the 15-meter classic and 45th in the 30-kilometer freestyle in Albertville in ’92, was the top U.S. finisher (23rd) in the 20-kilometer freestyle during the 1988 Games in Calgary.

Wonsavage was one of four three-time Olympians named to the 17-member team after last week’s national championships.

The Associated Press reported that Coach Gordy Lange filled the 17-skier team approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee after debating whether to leave one or two berths vacant.

“We’ve got a good mix of experience and younger skiers who are making a full-time commitment to their sport,” he said.

The three-time Olympians include Todd Boonstra, Egan, Minn.; Leslie Thompson, Stowe, Vt.; and Ingrid Butts, Park City, Utah. Boonstra competed in ’84 and ’88. Thompson and Butts skied with Wonsavage.

At Anchorage, Wonsavage finished fourth in the women’s 30-kilometer event won by hometown Olympic qualifier Nina Kemppel.

The decision to take 17 skiers worked to Nash’s advantage, according to U.S. ski team correspondent Paul Robbins.

Robbins said that Nash, a Fryeburg Academy and University of Utah grad, had bronchitis and could not race in Saturday’s final. The USOC told Lange it would pay for up to 17 skiers, but he was considering taking 13.

“If you take 13 it’s easier, from one standpoint, to manage that kind of group because if you have 17, all 17 will want to start in the Olympics and they all won’t get a start with everybody there,” Robbins said. “They will start just the best people.

“I talked with (Nash), and he said he was kind of on the bubble if they took six women and seven men. He was No. 7 at the time, and was having mixed emotions, cheering on people who could pull by him. But when they decided to go with nine men, he went easily since he finished third in one race and it’s based on your two best races.”

Nash is a former World Junior Team competitor. He made the world championship team in the 30-kilometer classical race after the national championships in Rumford last year, but the flu and back problems prevented him from competing in Sweden.

As for Wonsavage, Robbins said it was all-or-nothing for the As for Wonsavage, Robbins said it was all-or-nothing for the 28-year-old Olympian who was contemplating retirement.

“She said Friday the final race was either going to be a stepping stone to her third Olympics or her last race,” he said. “She is very happy she is going to get to race again.”

Wonsavage is the first Sugarloaf-USA sponsored skier named to the ’94 Olympic team. “We’re immenesly proud to have an athlete of Dorcas’ caliber representing Sugarloaf not only from an athletic point of view but from the point of view of the integrity of the individual,” said media relations director Nancy Marshall. “Dorcas displays a superior attitude and is a great role model for youngsters and adults alike.”

Happiness three times over was the word at Troll Valley Cross Country Ski Center in Farmington. Wonsavage is the center’s current famous member, and owner Galen Sayward has a long-time association with two other members of the Olympic cross country team.

His relationship with Wonsavage goes back a decade as a coach and official on the New England Junior Olympic circuit.

He worked with Nash and Swenson when the two were in high school. Swenson attended Kennett High in Conway, N.H., Fryeburg Academy’s rival just across the border.

But that rivalry, Sayward said, did not extend to skiing where Nash and Swenson competed on the Eastern circuit.

Sayward is particularly proud of Wonsavage, having watched her develop from a top college cross country runner to an Olympic cross country skier.

A native of Hanover, N.H., who met and married a Vermont native when the two were college students in Utah, Sayward is thrilled to have her call Farmington home.

Last year, when the couple was looking for a dental practice closer to their families in New England, they discovered an opening in Wilton, Sayward said. “Apparently Troll Valley rang a bell with her. She had raced here in ’91 when members of the U.S. team trained with us.”

Wonsavage hasn’t been on the Troll Valley course much this year, Sayward said, but the locals love it when she is. “When she’s cruising around the course, the kids all try and stay close to her.”

1994 U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team

Dorcas Wonsavage, Farmington; Marcus Nash, Fryeburg; Todd Boonstra, Egan, Minn.; Leslie Thompson, Stowe, Vt.; Ingrid Butts, Park City, Utah; John Aalberg, Salt Lake City, Utah; Luke Bodensteiner, West Bend, Wisc.; Ben Husaby, Eden Prairie, Minn.; Carl Swenson, North Conway, N. H.; Justin Wadsworth, Mount Hood, Ore.; Adam Verrier, Anchorage, Alaska; Pete Vordenberg, Boulder, Colo.; Nina Kemppel, Anchorage; Suzanne King, St. Paul, Minn.; Laura McCabe, Park City; Kerrin Petty, Townshend, Vt.; and Laura Wilson, Montpelier, Vt.