Six Craftsbury Green Racing Project athletes are moving on this spring from a full-time focus on professional sport. Rowers Wes Vear and Nathan Lado, Nordic skiers Ben Lustgarten and Elizabeth Guiney, and the biathlon husband-wife duo of Alex Howe and Emily Dreissigacker are all transitioning away from the GRP. The paths that lie ahead of them range from graduate school to farming, from heading west to staying close-by.

Pepa Miloucheva may have expressed the GRP’s collective feelings best, saying, “It is sad every time an athlete leaves. Even if I anticipate and expect them to retire it doesn't make it easier. This year with the season cut short made it even harder, as [there wasn’t] real closure of the season.” Perhaps we can help by revisiting what made each one of these athletes a special contributor to the Green Racing Project and its mission.

Wes Vear

Wes Vear called the Northeast Kingdom home for four years as a member of the rowing team. He’s headed to Medical School at Columbia University.

Wes Vear came to Craftsbury in the summer of 2016 to work as Fleet Manager after finishing a rowing career at the University of Michigan that began as a walk-on and finished with wins at both the Head of the Charles and the World University Games. It wasn’t before long before the GRP coaches recognized Wes’ talent and work ethic; Wes joined the team for full-time training in October 2016. Wes delayed his matriculation into medical school at Columbia University to pursue becoming the best rower he could be, and earned himself layers of memories and wisdom in the process.

“I didn't make it to the level I had hoped I would when I first started training full time. So I've made sure to focus on the process and learn what I can along the way,” Wes reflects. That learning, Wes notes, has included how to delay gratification while working toward a goal that lies unimaginably far ahead. Wes did have his fair share of athletic achievements though, both on the water and on snow, including qualifying for and representing Team USA at the 2019 PanAm Games in the double with teammate Nathan Lado.

“We will miss Wes’ relentless optimism,” writes GRP rowing coach Steve Whelpley. “Even when facing a setback, Wes would not be deterred to smile and try again.”

Wes spent many of his work hours at the Center assisting with the sculling camps during the summer and coaching youth ski programming in the winter, a nod to his upbringing of cross-country skiing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. “We have an awesome group of kids of all ages from the surrounding area,” Wes says, “and it was always the highlight of my day getting to cruise the trails, play endless hours of sharks and minnows, and laugh endlessly at the things they would say.”

Wes will also be remembered around the Center for his energy and willingness to help, his hearty laugh, his constant use of Bluetooth headphones, his parents’ chocolate-covered Oreos, and the mountain of food that he would consume nightly in the dining hall. Wes will enroll at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in August. In the meantime, he plans to stay nearby, help around the COC, and enjoy his social distancing by hiking some of Vermont’s 4000’ peaks.

Nathan Lado

Nathan Lado rowed for the GRP from 2017-2019. He hopes to one day work in the intersection of climate concerns and economics.

Nathan Lado wrapped up his rowing career in the fall of 2019 after two years of rowing for the GRP. Nate, a 2015 grad of Middlebury College, worked most closely with the Community Rowing program while at the Outdoor Center, an experience that allowed him to make great relationships with those in the community and develop his coaching and communication skills, he says. Nate was never one to shy away from hard work, and was often found putting in extra hours at the COC gym.

“Nathan did a remarkable job of logging aerobic work and emptying buckets of sweat into the world,” coach Steve Whelpley writes, with a hint of satire. “But more seriously, Nathan working with Wes in the double to win PanAm Trials, qualify at the qualification regatta and go to PanAms is more a testimony of his being than it is a testimony of his rowing. He worked hard to stay the course, while being hard on himself.”

Nate’s respect for his teammates and his work-hard mentality in the face of adversity is well reflected in his account of racing alongside Wes at the 2018 summer singles trials: “I had a hard summer with injury and it was a great race. We were side by side for 1600 meters until I was able to pull off a sprint… I felt like I really left everything on the course and neither of us "broke" the whole time. I also felt like there was a lot of mutual respect with Wes, both before and after, which enhanced the competition. We then hopped in a double a month later and won the double [at the PanAms qualification regatta].”

And while many may think that representing Team USA at the Pan-Am Games would be his proudest achievement as a rower, Nate explains that he was in fact most proud of his improvement in the fall of 2019 to finish strong at the Fall Speed Order, where he outperformed expectations despite a difficult early fall and the prospect of retirement weighing on his mind.

Looking forward, Nate has applied to a number of masters programs in mathematics, and hopes in the future to work in the intersection of climate concerns and economics. Nate says he’ll miss living in the “fairytale” NEK and the good friends he made on the GRP. As Steve says, “We will miss Nate’s pragmatic approach to both training and day-to-day life along with his occasional peppering of Star Wars references or jokes.”

Emily Dreissigacker

Emily has enjoyed a remarkable career as an athlete on the GRP, achieving international success in not one sport, but two. Emily joined the GRP rowing team out of Dartmouth in 2011. As a rower, Emily was an NCAA All-American and raced at the U23 World Championships. Then in 2015, after seven seasons focused on developing exclusively as an elite rower, she made the switch to biathlon, drawing on her experience as a Nordic skier before college. In an inspiring story of athletic success, Emily qualified to represent the US Biathlon Team at the 2018 Olympics and at the 2019 and 2020 World Championships.

While on the GRP, Emily made contributions both in the outdoors and in the oven. Emily co-invented the famous Craftsbury Outdoor Center Energy Cookie and is also well known on the team for her meticulous baking of decadent, delicious cakes. Her love of baking has developed into her part-time business of kingdomcakery.com. The GRP has enjoyed serving as her taste-testers on more than one occasion! Emily also enjoyed working with her now-husband Alex Howe on various COC projects. “One of my more lasting contributions,” Emily says, “was helping Alex plan and build the fence at Gerrie’s so the field could be grazed.”

Emily’s favorite training memories include going for a hike in Germany when her and her teammates decided to “try to make it into a loop” and ended up in Austria; they made it home six hours later. But that might be tied with another hike in Slovenia, she says. On this hike, her and her teammates again decided to “try to make it a loop” and ended up in Italy; after five hours they had to call to get a ride back across the border!

Perhaps it’s a little ironic that Emily’s favorite training memories include getting lost in foreign countries. After retiring, Emily’s not going anywhere; she and Alex will be starting a farm together in Craftsbury. We hope she still finds the time to get lost outside while training “for fun,” even if it’s in her own backyard.

Alex Howe

Alex Howe raced for both GRP Nordic and GRP Biathlon over his eight year career. Together with Emily, Alex looks forward to laying the foundations for a grass-fed beef operation on his farm.

Alex joined the GRP Nordic ski team in 2012 straight off of a successful senior year at the University of Vermont in which he helped the Catamounts to their first NCAA Championship in 18 years. Having grown up on a farm in Gilford, NH, Alex felt right at home in Craftsbury with the lack of cell service, the backwoods feel, and the relaxed times spent both outside and in with teammates.

“Honestly some of the best times I had on the GRP were spent around the kitchen table at Elinors [athlete house] and… joking around at the beginning and end of every day,” Alex reflected. “Having bonfires, towing behind the snowmobiles, campfires, and basketball. Can’t name ‘em all, but thanks to all the teammates I had through the years, they made it fun!”

In his first year with the GRP Alex quickly racked up top sprint results on the national Nordic skiing scene, including a podium finish at the 2013 US National Championships in Solider Hollow, UT. The following summer Alex tore his ACL while playing soccer on the upper field, rendering him effectively out of the game for the 2014 Olympics. Not long after getting his skis back under him, Alex made the switch to biathlon, and after two seasons of development he finished his career by racing on the World Cup in each of his final three seasons. Alex also represented the United States together with his wife Emily at the 2019 World Championships in Sweden. And while he has a number of notable athletic achievements to name, Alex says there is one achievement during his time on the GRP that supersedes all others: “I met my wife.”

Alex’s work at Craftsbury involved setting up the rotational grazing system (aforementioned by Emily) for pigs, chickens, turkeys, and cows. He contributed in many other hands-on ways including snow-hauling, gardening, and mowing. Alex’s future plans include, first, social distancing, but then he and Emily will turn to finishing their barn and preparing their fields to be ready for cows. He says that although he won’t be far away, he’ll still miss the people and lunchtime camaraderie in the dining hall.

Alex and Emily will be missed on the GRP but we very much look forward to seeing them in Craftsbury over the years to come. We echo the sentiments of GRP biathlon coach Mike Gibson, who was Alex and Emily’s former GRP teammate and helped to coach the couple while working as an assistant for the US Biathlon Team; Mike writes, “Alex and Emily have been planning what their life would look like after racing, and I could not be more excited for them to start this new journey. Their absence from training and travel will certainly be an adjustment, but they will still continue to be a part of our greater community. They both have the ingenuity and work ethic to find success in whatever they do, and I am glad they have found new ventures to be passionate about.”

Ben Lustgarten

Ben Lustgarten raced for the GRP Nordic team for four years. He has taken a job with NRG Systems in Burlington and will continue to ski and mountain bike race part-time.

A 2014 graduate of Middlebury College and twice All-American, Ben Lustgarten came to Craftsbury after two years of professional ski racing for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Ben, a Burlington native, has since enjoyed Craftsbury as his home and training base, especially with his family and friends close-by. Ben has had a number of impressive results, including representing the United States at the 2019 Tour de Ski, the 2020 Scandinavian Ski Tour, and the 2017 and 2019 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships. Ben has also posted podium results in the local pro mountain biking circuit.

The result he is more proud of is his victory in the 30km classic at the 2017 US National Championships in Soldier Hollow, UT. “I always had a feeling that I could ski faster than I had been in years before that, and that race really showed me what I could do when the skis and fitness all click together,” Ben said of that victory. “The wax techs made the skis perfect, and my training and recovery and nutrition worked well for that race. It really was a perfect day.”

Yet, fitting with his Vermont upbringing, his favorite racing memory was this past winter’s Craftsbury SuperTour. “Can’t beat skiing on the home course with home crowds, and Adam [Martin] had a career best in the classic sprint and I was able to ski a quarterfinal with Braden [Becker]. I also had career best races in both distance races with my parents and girlfriend watching so can't really beat that.”

While at the Outdoor Center, Ben was most involved with youth mountain bike programming and promoting Craftsbury mountain bike trails and races. He’d come out each Wednesday to coach a group of young mountain bikers and also help to maintain and service the mountain bike rental fleet.

Ben has already accepted and began (on March 24th!) a full-time job with NRG Systems in Burlington as a Product Technician. He looks forward to working in the renewable energy space and hopes to bike commute the 12.5 miles to-and-from work each day. Ben also plans to join the GRP for a limited schedule of domestic ski races next winter. As for what he will miss most about Craftsbury? “I will miss living at Elinor’s and having access to such amazing training, living with fun teammates, and the dining hall of course!” Ben did note, however, that he won’t miss the black flies, and for that we won’t blame him.

Elizabeth Guiney

Liz Guiney skied for the GRP for seven seasons. She is heading west to work in Utah for a year and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in Nutrition or Exercise Physiology.

Liz joined the GRP in 2013 after graduating from the University of New Hampshire, where she won the Elite 89 award her senior year as the nation’s top academic student-athlete in Nordic skiing. Liz raced for the GRP for seven seasons, posting several top SuperTour results along the way. The 2016-2017 season was a special one for Liz; she became the SuperTour leader and qualified for World Cups in South Korea and North America. In her World Cup debut in 2017 at the Pyeongchang pre-Olympic event, Liz posted an excellent 13th place finish in the 15km skiathlon. However, “my favorite racing memories,” Liz writes, “are either when the women’s team swept the SuperTour podium in Ishpeming with incredible skis that day (an all-around team effort), or racing at the Quebec World Cups in 2017 with a large GRP contingent and home fans.”

While at Craftsbury, Liz wrote for the website, worked in the gardens, and organized and administrated the weekly Tuesday Night Race series, among many other things. “Somehow I never really focused on just one thing,” she says, “which meant I was never bored!” Liz will most miss the work that involved interacting with others, whether it was leading Monday night Community Fitness classes, working in the gardens, or lending a hand at Catamounts’ ski practices.

Liz, who is originally from Park City, UT, is planning to head back west to be close to her family while she works for a year. Then she’d like to pursue a master’s degree in either Exercise Physiology or Nutrition. Despite Utah being the endurance-athlete mecca that it is, Liz says she will miss “having motivated, fit people around all the time who want to run, ski, and bike with me! I will also miss the friends I’ve made at the Center over the years. I won’t miss rollerskiing in East Craftsbury… but I will miss the dining hall food.”

After many years coaching these athletes, its no surprise that Pepa Miloucheva considers what her own response will be after Ben and Liz move on. She writes, “Beni luckily will still keep racing part-time and will join us for some races, so [that] will make the transition easier. [With] Lizy, it will be hard, as I probably won’t see her that much, but hope she will stay in touch! Over the years we went through many happy and hard times together, so of course I will miss them, I always do! At the end I am also quite lucky, as over the years I stayed in touch with many of the former GRP athletes, so it’s always fun to catch up and see them succeed in their next venture!”

Six GRP Athletes move on to new adventures