More on Eli Brown

Fri, Aug  6, 2010 - By Mike Muha

I thought it would be useful to provide a short biography of Eli's accomplishments as we wait for hid arrival in Michigan. This information comes from the University of Utah and has been edited so the dates appears in chronological order.

Brown grew up as a Nordic ski racer and runner in Minneapolis. His alma mater, South High, won the state cross-country running meet four years in a row. This experience had a lasting affect on Brown. "Creating a team feeling in individual sports like running, or ski racing is unique and important," he said. "My experience as a runner on the South team shaped my life."

Brown went on to become one of the top collegiate racers in the country at Northern Michigan University under coaches Sten Fjeldheim and Trond Nystad. After college skiing, Eli continued racing for a few years as a member of the US Development Team. His top national results included a 3rd, 5th, and 6th at the US National Championships.

In 1999 his coaching career began at Utah as assistant coach to former head coach Kevin Sweeney.

"Kevin taught me what coaching is all about," Brown said. "Believing in your athletes, working hard for them and holding them accountable."

From there, he went on to coach skiing, running, and track at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. After helping that program make the jump to NCAA competition, Brown moved to coach in northern Maine at the Maine Winter Sports Center. As the elite cross-country ski coach for the MWSC, Brown started one of the first post-collegiate programs in the country.

"Whitman was a challenge, we didn't really have a place to ski, but we made it work anyways," he said. "Maine was a unique experience, the money and support for the sport of skiing that has been infused into northern Maine is phenomenal."

In 2003, a job offer from Fischer Ski Company drew in Brown. He moved to New Hampshire and started what would become a two-year job in the ski industry. During his time at Fischer, he helped launch their new professional race team together with Swix. "My experience at Fischer was amazing," he said. "I learned a lot about the industry, technology, and service it takes to support athletes at the highest level."

In 2005, Eli returned tothe Univiersity of Utah as the head men's and women's coach for both alpine and cross country skiing, coaching the nordic skiers directly. Since taking over as director at Utah, 11 athletes have earned All-America honors. Junior Eva Huckova is a four-time All-American. Two skiers have won national titles - Scott Veenis in 2006 and Snorri Einarsson in 2007. Tague Thorson, who finished the 2008 regular season as the top overall men's alpine qualifier, became one of just a handful of alpine skiers (men or women) to reach the U.S. Ski Team as a collegiate skier in the past 30 years. Chirine Njeim competed for Lebanon in the 2010 Olympics.

In 2008 Brown led Utah to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships, its best finish since 2005.

Brown was recently named to the NCAA Men's and Women's Skiing Committee. His tenure runs through 2013. He also led the charge to construct a ski team building on campus to house equipment.