Shawn Dunstan received the Charger Award for the Outstanding Male Athlete. This award is given each year to the male athlete who has extraordinary athletic ability and has contributed the most to his team, the College and the world of sport. The award is a token of hard work, good judgment, understanding and determination.
Head Coach Garrett Lashar states, “Shawn’s hard work and perseverance allowed him to be one of our most improved skiers this year. His physical talents combined with a more confident mental approached to his skiing, led Shawn to become our strongest and most consistent member of the men’s ski team. In college skiing, consistency is one of our main goals but also the hardest to obtain; Shawn’s skiing throughout the regular season was a model of what we strive for.”
In 10 regular season races, he finished nine of them with his worst result being 3rd place out of 85 racers. He won three races throughout the regular season and his consistency led him to win the individual title for the very deep MacConnell Division; earning him 1st Team All-Division. He helped lead the Men’s team to a 2nd place standing for the regular season as well as 2nd place at the Eastern Collegiate Ski Conference (ECSC) Regional Championship. And at the Regional Championship, Shawn won the slalom title, took 3rd in the giant slalom, and tied for 1st in the combined; sharing the crown as the ECSC Men’s Individual Combined Champion.
Shawn’s on the snow accomplishments include the following:
MacConnell Division Regular Season Champion (1st)—1st Team All-Division
ECSC Regional SL Champion (1st)—1st Team All-Conference
ECSC Regional Championship GS 3rd place—1st Team All-Conference
Shared ECSC Regional Combined Champion (T-1st)—1st Team All-Conference
USCSA National Championship SL—2nd place—1st Team All-American
USCSA National Championship GS—13th place—2nd Team All-American
USCSA National Championship Combined--6th place—2nd Team All-American
USCSA National Championship Combined Top American Finisher—qualifying him to U.S. Alpine National Championships; first male in CSC history to qualify for this event
MVP of Men’s Ski Team
At the United States Collegiate Ski Association (USCSA) National Championships, Shawn skied to a 13th place result in the GS, but it was his skiing in the SL that turned his season into an epic one. He finished in the silver medal position in the SL, winning the second run, giving him 1st Team All-American honors in that event. That 2nd place result vaulted Shawn up the combined standings resulting in three All-American counts. More impressively, he ended up as the top American in the combined standings, which earned Shawn a spot in the U.S. Alpine National Championships.
“This was great moment for the program as Shawn became the first male skier to ever qualify for this event. Of course, probably an even greater moment for Shawn as to qualify for this event has been a goal of his since he was 15 years old. It was a perfect ending to most likely the best individual season ever by a Colby-Sawyer Men’s ski team member.” – Head Coach Garrett Lashar
