Skiing Announces Creation of Cory L. Schwartz '82 Ski Team Endowment

DURHAM, N.H. – More than 200 alumni, parents and friends of UNH Skiing from the past seven decades held a reception at Huddleston Hall on Oct. 3 to celebrate the rich history, strength and success of the Wildcat ski program.

The ski program was eliminated as a varsity sport at the University in 1975. A dedicated group of team members, coaches, alumni, parents and friends created the Friends of UNH Skiing to rally supporters to take action that led to the reinstatement of the program the following year.
Forty years later, the strong and growing Friends of UNH Skiing consists of approximately 650 donors and Ski NH.

To celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the friends group, Saturday night's program featured special remarks by Rex Bell '74 (coach 1975-1976), who spoke about his team and the leadership of his student-athletes, including Richard Andross '77, Robert Treadwell '79, Mark Emery '76 and the late Thomas Chase '76, who advocated for the team to be reinstated.
Paul Berton (coach 1976-1990) spoke about the history of the ski program and Susanne Fortier '71 reflected on the late Gail Bigglestone's '60 contributions to women's athletics and the ski team.

Grover Daniels '79, Peter Middleton '81, president, Friends of UNH Skiing, Kelly Milligan '86 and Willie Ford '10 provided information about the vision for the program moving forward.
Howie Bean '78, Paul Berton, Byron "Buzz" Davis '75, Nathaniel '81 and Marianne Lucy '83 and Josiah Miles '87 collaborated to establish the Cory L. Schwartz '82 Ski Team Endowment in honor of Schwartz, who is now in his 34^th season coaching the Nordic program and in his 29^th year as the UNH ski coordinator.

View a full list of the athletic current endowed funds.

Byron "Buzz" Davis '75, coach of the women's ski team from 1978-1982, was happy to be back on campus. "It was so good to see so many old friends and the memories keep coming back to me," Davis said. "Most of all, this event has helped me realize how meaningful my time at UNH was to me."

The Cory L. Schwartz '82 Ski Team Endowment is one of six endowed funds that support the men's and women's ski teams. Schwartz considers it a critical boost in recruiting student-athletes.
During his tenure, Schwartz has led the Wildcats to 25 Top-10 NCAA placements, including back-to-back seventh place finishes (1984-1985) within his first three years at the University and eighth-place finishes in 2011 and 2013, matching the squad's top placement since 1994. From 1989-96, Schwartz's teams claimed eight consecutive Top-10 NCAA finishes, the most in school history.

In 2014, Coach Schwartz was awarded the Profile of Service Award by the UNH Alumni Association for his outstanding performance on behalf of the Alumni Association or the University.
Schwartz was named Coach of the Year by the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) in 1985, '86, 2002, '03, and '15.
He was awarded the Al Merrill Award by the State of New Hampshire in 1998. This award was established in memory of Al Merrill to recognize an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to cross country skiing in the state of New Hampshire.

During his collegiate career at UNH, Schwartz competed in the NCAA Championships three times before graduating in 1982. The Center Conway, N.H., native had his top performance during his junior season when he placed 10th in the NCAAs. He began coaching the men's squad in a post-graduate year and, the following season, took over the duties for the women's team.

"It was such an exciting celebration, seeing alums from the '50s to the current team interact," Schwartz remarked. "To be honored with an endowment by former teammates, my college coach and one of my former student-athletes made the night even more special. The outstanding turnout of alumni shows the strength and depth of our program, and how important it continues to be for UNH and the state of New Hampshire."

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