When senior Andrew Benson graduates from Tufts this spring, his legacy on the snowy slopes will not easily be forgotten by the ski team he leaves behind.
As captain for the Tufts ski team, Benson has dominated the Thompson division since his freshman year, racking up an incredible 32 race wins in 44 competitions over his college career.
On top of his regular season supremacy, he has shown off his speed in the Eastern Regional Championships, finishing in the top 20 all four years. His best Regional finish came last year, when he sped to sixth place overall and received his second career individual bid to the College Ski Association National Championships, given to the best individual racer representing a team that did not receive a bid.
He traveled to Winter Park, Colo. to compete in the races and finished in the top 20 in both slalom and giant slalom (GS). In GS he had his most impressive result, placing 12th in a field made up of over 100 of the best college skiers in the country. These two top finishes propelled him to 10th in the nation overall, good enough for 2007 All-American honors.
"I went into Nationals last year with some goals and I definitely accomplished some of them," Benson said. "I really wanted to make All-American and I did. The biggest competitions are the most fun when the pressure is on, and they are the ones I like the best."
All this from a racer on a Div. III club skiing team.
Benson took a unique route to end up racing for a non-varsity team at Tufts, after an impressive stint during his high school years racing for the Mount Washington Valley ski team in New Hampshire. Upon his acceptance to Tufts in his senior year, he decided to take a year off and move to Sun Valley, Idaho. During that year he raced for the prestigious "A" team in the Sun Valley ski program, where he was surrounded predominantly by skiers with professional aspirations.
"Originally I was planning on using that year to improve and then transfer to a Div. I program," Benson said. "But at the end of my year off, I didn't ski quite as well as I wanted to and ended up deciding to come to Tufts."
However, Benson did not spend his time as a Jumbo regretting his decision, as he came to form a niche for himself. Although he didn't feel as though his skiing technique improved noticeably during his collegiate career, he said his confidence made noticeable strides during his tenure on the Hill.
"Once I was here I really started to gain the confidence to develop those skills I had learned in my year off," Benson said. "I didn't even realize before coming here that the program would give me such a good opportunity to improve."
Meanwhile, Benson has brought a lot to the Jumbos with his competitive drive.
"At first his dedication and intensity was a difficult change for the team," coach Rob McCune said. "But it was exactly what we needed. Change is always difficult for a team, but because of the respect he commanded and the performance he could bring on race day, he was really an elevating factor."
In addition to racing competitively at Tufts, Benson trained extensively with Boston College's skiers. Thanks to a previous relationship with the BC coach, Benson was able to practice with the team and attend its training camps. He also stayed with BC when he competed in Nationals as an individual.
Despite the non-varsity atmosphere, Benson excelled, winning the Thompson division outright three out of four years and helping the Tufts ski team as a whole to rise to a new level of competitiveness. Since 2005, the Jumbos have come away with a first-place finish, two second-place finishes and a fourth-place finish in the Thompson division season standings.
"I think he has matured a lot in that he has realized that the team as a whole will benefit from him being more of a team member," McCune said. "By racing more for the team, it allowed him to perform more consistently and on a higher level. Before that he was putting more pressure on himself to perform at his personal peak as opposed to performing for the sake of the team."
These successes have allowed the team to qualify for Regionals all four years that Benson suited up for Tufts. In the previous three years, the team had qualified just once.
As the captain of the team and the leader by example, Benson's presence has extended beyond the scoreboard.
"Having someone that has such passion for the sport makes you want to do better," sophomore Pat Tonelli said. "He wants everyone around him to improve. He is a really good teacher with an infectious passion for the sport."
Tonelli believes that the team would not be in the position that it is now, with the potential to excel in future years, had Benson decided against coming to Tufts.
"He has brought a level of respectability to the program," Tonelli said. "This is becoming a place to come to ski, and on campus it's becoming a sport that people notice."
Despite the fact that he is graduating and moving on to a career outside of the sport, Benson intends to put his knowledge and skills to use in the future.
"There is no way I could leave this sport, so I think I will pursue it through coaching," Benson said."
He has already obtained three coaching offers, but since he intends to work in the Boston area, Benson is working to become an assistant coach for the Tufts team.
