Molly Peters hired as Saint Michael's Nordic coach, continues to guide women's cross country
COLCHESTER, Vt. - Molly (Enman) Peters has been selected as the new Saint Michael's College Nordic skiing head coach, Associate Director of Athletics Zaf Bludevich announced on Tuesday. Peters, a three-time NCAA Championship qualifier, also enters her seventh fall as the head coach of the women's cross country program.
"I love coaching at Saint Michael's College and feel very lucky to have this opportunity to coach the Nordic team," said Peters, who led her Purple Knight cross country squad to a third-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship in the fall after league coaches predicted a 13th-place showing for the team. "I really enjoy working with athletes, and I am excited to share my knowledge with the team."
Since 2009, Peters has coached youths between the ages of 5 and 13 through the Bill Koch Youth Ski League. Peters has also been a Nordic ski instructor and events coordinator since 2003 at the Sleepy Hollow Inn, Ski and Bike Center on family land in Huntington. A former three-sport standout at nearby Middlebury College, Peters trained after graduation in Park City, Utah, with aspirations of qualifying for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Nordic skiing.
"We are excited to have Molly broaden her role at Saint Michael's," said Bludevich. "Her experience and knowledge of Nordic skiing through coaching and competing will help the program continue to grow."
Peters' coaching experience has reached far beyond skiing, with her greatest success coming this past year as the Saint Michael's women's cross country head coach. After inheriting 11 student-athletes for her initial campaign in 2006, she built the ranks to 26 by 2011, with 21 qualifying for the NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll due to academic achievement. The team's third-place showing at the league meet tied the school record, and was the program's best since 1993. Peters was later named Purple Knight Coach of the Year at the athletic department's 65th annual Block 'M' Awards Dinner.
Peters was an assistant coach at Middlebury from 1997 to 2001 for cross country and track & field, training Division III All-America and national champion cross country runners. On the track, Peters was the distance events coach. In 2002, she headed the men's and women's cross country programs at Division III University of Redlands (Calif.) before returning east to coach at Burlington High School from 2003 to 2008. Peters served as a cross country assistant coach while working with the sprinters and hurdlers on the track & field squads.
A 1997 graduate of Middlebury, Peters earned a degree in biology while competing in cross country, Nordic skiing and outdoor track & field. She qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship in cross country as a senior; competed in three NCAA skiing championships, earning an All-America finish her senior year; and took All-America honors in the 1,500-meter run in outdoor track & field as a senior, placing sixth in the event at the NCAA Championship.
