For Buffs Ski Grads, Athletics Helped Build Academic Success

BOULDER — When it comes to academics and athletics, Colorado skiers Petter Reistad and Petra Hyncicova are firm believers that the two go hand-in-hand.

In fact, the two CU All-American skiers believe that not only do academics and athletics go well together, the time demands, discipline and dedication that both pursuits require also help increase their chances of success in both.

"Sport teaches you to perform under pressure," said CU skier Petter Reistad. "That is great preparation for school and for a demanding professional life. You are trained to expect to succeed, and you take that experience with you to the classroom and, hopefully, into the professional world when you graduate."

Reistad, a native of Norway who will graduate with a degree in finance this week from the Leeds School of Business, no doubt succeeded in both realms during his time at Colorado.

In his three years of competing in Nordic events for the Buffs, Reistad earned six All-America honors, including a second-place finish in this year's 10K classical race at the NCAA Championships. At the same time, he also compiled a 3.956 grade-point average, helping him to become one of four winners this year of the Morgan Family Buff Club Scholar-Athlete Award.

"There are really many similarities between academics and athletics," Reistad said. "The Leeds School of Business has been great in preparing me with deadlines, tests, homework, teamwork. It is very much like athletics in that regard. When you have the athletic component in there as well, you learn to prioritize and make sure you give yourself time for everything. The combination has been super valuable."

The storyline has been much the same for Reistad's teammate Petra Hyncicova, who is also graduating this spring, with a degree in integrative physiology. The Czech Republic native left her mark in the CU record books with seven All-America honors — including a pair of NCAA championships in 2017 (freestyle and classical) — as well as an appearance in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics earlier this year, representing the Czech Republic.

In the classroom, Hyncicova was part of a women's ski team that last fall had the highest team GPA in the athletic department for the fifth semester in a row (3.520), as well as the top combined cumulative GPA (3.476). She was also a two-time member of the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team for maintaining above a 3.5 cumulative grade point average and competing at the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional.

"Being a student-athlete is learning how to work under pressure and be at your best under pressure," Hyncicova said.  "Honestly, I think we are maybe better than other students when it comes to time management because we have to figure out when to study, when to train, when to recover and how to put all those things together. I think we learn to work better under pressure. The  feeling you get when you are done with everything is the best, because even though you are tired, you know you achieved something. It's the same in sport — you have that one goal and you want to get it."

Both Reistad and Hyncicova utilized their time at Colorado to get as much experience as possible in their chosen fields.

Last summer, Reistad served an internship with Norwegian bank DNB, the largest bank in the country. He worked with risk management, an area he said had its share of pressure — but also something that he enjoyed.

"I worked in a department of experts," Reistad said. "The people working next to each other couldn't do each other's job because they were so specialized. You had to do your job very well because you couldn't depend on a lot of help from other people, but they were depending on you to do a good job. You had to know how to work under pressure, which is something you are used to doing because of skiing."

Hyncicova, who worked as a concurrent bachelor's/master's student at Colorado, had the opportunity to work in the Integrative Physiology Department's Locomotion Lab with Dr. Rodger Kram. There, she helped continue a study on the relationship between the weight of ski poles to metabolic cost.

"It's been very interesting and challenging," Hyncicova said. "You have to solve so many different problems. It could be technical or it could be an error …  it might be something not even to do with skiing. The best part was solving problems, finding out why something worked or didn't work."

Both skiers also said learning the art of teamwork through athletics is another skill that translates directly to the academic and professional world.

"When you are working with a team, you learn that you have someone with you," Hyncicova said. "When you are doing well, they help you celebrate and are part of your success. But when you are having difficult times, they are there to help and support you. It's something that you learn is very valuable, and it is something you need in the professional world."

Reistad could have returned for one more year of competitive skiing, but has instead chosen to return to Norway and work for a start-up company there that works with digitalization in the manufacturing and energy industry.

"I will be working with their commercial development, exploring new markets," Reistad said. "It's very exciting to have that revenue side, where you have to work hard to produce results. There is no doubt pressure, but it is like competitive sport. You learn to meet that kind of pressure and respond in the same way. It's something you need to be able to do to succeed every day."

In the long term, Hyncicova hopes to apply her degree toward becoming a physical therapist.

But before she heads down that path, she will continue to ski competitively. After skiing for her country in the 2018 Olympics, she will return home in August and resume training with the Czech national team.

"I want to see if I can continue to improve," she said. "I will go back and keep training and see where that takes me."

For Reistad, though, the ultra-competitive days are now behind him. While he will continue to train and ski, he admits there is one part of sports that he likely won't be able to replicate in the professional world.

"The crazy peaks you get in sports," he said. "Nothing is like fighting with someone out on the course and beating them and being celebrated by the whole team. Nothing is like winning a championship with your teammates. Those big moments, those huge moments — you can't get them anywhere else. I'm going to miss those, for sure. That will be the hardest thing."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu