By Gavin Kentch
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Welcome back to this year’s preview of the seven main professional ski clubs in this country. Previously this fall: BSF | Sun Valley. And now here’s the new kids in town, Mansfield Pro.
What is the official name of this ski team? “Mansfield Nordic Pro” or “Mansfield Pro Nordic,” depending on where on their website you look.
Where is it located? Richmond, Vermont
Who is the coach? Perry Thomas is the head coach; Adam Terko is the program director.
Who’s on the roster this season? Sydney Palmer-Leger, Logan Moore, Chloe Levins, Conner Roberts, Annie McColgan, and Colin Freed. Palmer-Leger is on the U.S. Ski Team D-Team. Levins is on the World Cup Team for U.S. Biathlon.
Athlete profile pics? Athlete profile pics. Click on any headshot to enlarge.
What’s different now from last season? Everything! This is the first year of the team.
Briefly put: Palmer-Leger moves here from SMS, while Roberts comes over from Team Birkie. Moore, McColgan, and Freed all graduated last spring, from Middlebury, Vermont, and Michigan Tech, respectively. Thomas previously coached at SMS. Terko has been associated with Mansfield Nordic for several years now.
What were some highlights of last season?
Sydney Palmer-Leger raced broadly in 2024/2025, starting the year on the World Cup, coming back for U.S. Nationals, returning to Europe for her final U23 Championships and more World Cup starts, then coming back to this country for Spring Series. Oh, somewhere in the middle of all that traveling she also won the Birkie.
World Cup highlights for Palmer-Leger included two top-30 finishes, 26th in a 20km skate in Falun and 28th in a 20km classic in Davos. She had six more World Cup results within the top 50. Palmer-Leger was 17th, 21st, and 23rd in three races at U23s in Schilpario. She was healthy for a SuperTour weekend in January in Bozeman, where she finished second and fourth. And, again, in February she won the American Birkebeiner, the most famous SuperTour race of them all.
Chloe Levins was 41st, 48th, and 52nd at biathlon world champs in Lenzerheide, in the individual, pursuit, and sprint, respectively. On the IBU World Cup, she lodged a top individual finish of 48th, in Hochfilzen. She was also on the mixed relay team that finished sixth in Östersund. In domestic racing, she claimed two national championships in Bozeman in late March.
Levins also golfs at a high level, and currently serves as the assistant women’s golf coach at Middlebury, her alma mater. This factoid leads basically every profile about Levins. It is also legit fascinating. See the “read more” section, at bottom, for more on this.
Annie McColgan took a post-grad season with UVM, and made the most of it. She won the 10km skate at the Saint Michael’s Carnival, her first career carnival win, then followed it up with a win in the 20km skate at the Dartmouth Carnival. She finished her collegiate career by placing second in the 7.5km interval-start classic (first American) at 2025 NCAA Championships, also at Oak Hill. In domestic racing, she had a top finish at U.S. Nationals of 12th, in the 20km classic, and was seventh and eighth in the distance races in the Period 1 SuperTour races at the Birkie Trailhead.
Logan Moore is a fellow EISA alumnus or alumna, graduating from Middlebury after four years of racing. In his final season, he raced at NCAA Championships for the third time, finishing fifth in the 20km skate and 30th in the 7.5km classic. He had eight podium finishes on the EISA carnival circuit. His U.S. Nationals results were highlighted by a 20th in the 20km classic. On the SuperTour, finally, Moore placed eighth and fifteenth at Spring Series in Lake Placid, in the 10km skate and 40km classic, respectively.
Colin Freed spent four years on the CCSA circuit with Michigan Tech, based out of the Greater Houghton Metropolitan Area. He qualified for NCAA Championships, for not the first time, this year finishing 20th in the 7.5km classic and 32nd in the 20km skate at Oak Hill in March. He was second, third, fifth, and seventh in EISA races in February. Freed’s top finish at U.S. Nationals was 21st, in the 10km skate.
Finally, Conner Roberts was 68th in the Birkie, and the kid is from the Twin Cities suburbs so I feel like I should lead with that. On less prestigious race circuits, Roberts placed 43rd in the 20km classic at the December SuperTour in Birkieland, and 51st in the 40km classic at Spring Series. He also competed at the 2025 FISU Winter World University Games in Pragelato, finishing 49th and 58th in the distance races.
What does the coach have to say? Here’s Perry Thomas:
“Our first summer and fall as a team went really well. The team is looking really strong!
“We, for the most part, spent the entirety of the summer and fall here in Vermont. We have exceptional dryland training here, and wanted to spend more time getting to know the community. Chloe and Logan had opportunities to link up with USBA for a variety of camps, and Sydney and Annie both spent a couple weeks in Park City in October with the U.S. Ski Team.
“It’s been super fun getting to know the athletes and working with them, especially those I’ve worked with in the past. They all consistently impress me with their positive attitude, dedication to their training and the new team, the positive team culture they’re creating, and their hard work at practice every day.
“It’s been fascinating to learn more about the biathlon side of the sport through the inclusion of Chloe and Logan. Their integration with the other cross-country athletes has been incredibly beneficial for everyone involved.
“Notably, many of the athletes hold part-time jobs to help offset the costs of the sport, which I believe strikes a healthy balance. Colin, for example, has an awesome leather business he’s started!
“One aspect of my previous experience working with collegiate athletes was the recognition of the incredible team culture those programs foster, as well as the school-skiing-life balance. One of my goals is to bring some of those positive aspects into this team. I want our athletes to have opportunities to gain experience in various aspects of life beyond ski racing. After all, we’re humans first, and I believe it’s crucial to allow them to have lives beyond the rollerski tracks and ski trails. The athletes have embraced this, and it’s wonderful to see!
“Additionally, it’s been incredibly exciting to witness the team gel and grow over the past six months. Weekly, they organize team dinners and activities outside of training. I feel like we are seeing and feeling successes already that go beyond pure race results.
“The athletes have been heavily involved with the behind the scenes of our operations and development of the team thus far. They have had a say in just about all major decisions from fundraisers, to team apparel, to team gatherings, to finances and sponsor solicitation. They are equally a part of the creation and direction of the program as I am, which I think is incredibly important, and fosters excellent cohesion and team buy-in.
“While fundraising is crucial for our success, we also prioritize maintaining strong connections with our community. We believe that participating in cross-country skiing provides an opportunity for individuals to connect with others and contribute to a larger cause. In this spirit, we endeavored to create and host fundraising events and experiences that were inclusive and engaging for all. We learned a lot through this process, and I’m looking forward to building on our successes in the future.
“Chloe (Team Captain!) had some super successful biathlon races throughout the summer and Fall that allowed her to lock in starts for the first two periods of IBU World Cup. She is currently [as of November, when Perry wrote this; all of the ensuing delay in getting this published is on my end –Ed.] with USBA in Austria for a pre-camp before heading to Sweden for the start of the biathlon World Cup. Logan started shooting and training with USBA this spring, and has made some awesome progress there. It will be cool to see him kick butt in both biathlon and cross-country this winter.
“Sydney and Annie are looking really strong, and it’s been a blast working with both of them again — great to have some familiar faces to work with. I’m excited to see them throw down this winter.
“Conner and Colin are two athletes that I didn’t know previously, but they have fit into the team and Vermont really well. They are both super positive, and carry a ‘team first’ attitude with them. I think these two especially have made some significant improvements in their skiing, and I’m looking forward to seeing them succeed this winter.
“We’ve lucked out here in Vermont with some early snow this past week — feels good to be back on snow, and we’re getting fired up! We actually just changed our pre-camp plans to stay in Vermont instead of going out to Silverstar as we have some good snow here. We’ll travel as a team to Alaska for the first period of Supertour racing in early December.”
How can you get more information or follow the team? website | Instagram | Facebook
Read more:
How Golf and Buddhism Have Helped Olympic Hopeful Chloe Levins in Biathlon (Team USA)
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