Coaching Staff
The Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club has a team of committed and experienced coaches leading its many programs. Read on to learn more.
Pepa Miloucheva
Director of Competitive Skiing; Head Coach of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project
Education: Bulgarian Sports University (Masters in Sport Science: Physiology/Biomechanics)
Hometown: Goverdartsi, Sofiya, Bulgaria
Home Ski Club: Mother Republic Bulgaria Club
Pepa has headed the Craftsbury ski programs for many years since coming to Craftsbury at the beginning of 1998. In Bulgaria she competed for the national team for many years in ski orienteering where she won gold at the World Championships in 1994. At the Outdoor Center she has also worked as a massage therapist and fleet manager. When the Center was reorganized as non-profit in 2008, she took over head coaching responsibilities of the Green Racing Project as her full-time responsibility. Ski racing aside, Pepa enjoys burnt meat, bones, chocolate, and caffeine.
Anna Schulz
Head Junior/BKL Coach
Education: Harvard University (BA in Government); University of Vermont (Masters in Public Administration)
Hometown: Johnson, VT
Home Ski Club: Craftsbury
Anna grew up skiing in Vermont and was part of Pepa’s junior program at the Outdoor Center. She went on to compete at the collegiate level for Harvard, where she met her future husband and co-coach Ollie. After graduation, Anna worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer on local food initiatives with the Outdoor Center, Sterling College, and Craftsbury Academy. In 2011, she moved to Bend, Oregon where she coached for two years at the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation before coming home to Vermont to attend graduate school. She earned a Master's degree in Public Administration at UVM in 2015, where she researched how to adapt transportation infrastructure to the impacts of climate change. While at UVM, Anna coached with the Mansfield Nordic Club, which reminded her how much more she loved coaching skiing than researching transportation. She returned to Craftsbury in 2015 to lead the junior and BKL ski programs. In 2018, Anna was awarded the NENSA Bill Koch League leadership award, and in 2019 she attended Junior World Ski Championships as part of the wax team. She has also attended multiple Junior Nationals as either a coach or wax tech. When not at the Center, Anna can often be found wrangling her daughters Emma and Ava, roaming with her dog Hazel, baking stuff, or gardening.
Certifications:
USSA L200
SafeSport
Wilderness First Aid
IMBA Level 1
CPR and First Aid, AED
Jake Barton
Assistant Junior/BKL Coach
Education: Colby College (BA in Art History and Studio Art)
Hometown: Elmore, VT
Home Ski Club: Craftsbury
Jake is from Elmore, VT, and grew up skiing at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center under Pepa's watchful eye. After a highly successful high school skiing career, Jake went on to ski for Colby College, where he was twice named MVP. He also skied in NCAA Championships in both 2011 and 2012. Upon graduating in 2013 with a double-major degree in art history and studio art, Jake returned to Vermont to ski for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. During his two years in Craftsbury, Jake undertook a variety of projects ranging from fine woodworking to landscaping to organizing ski camps. After wrapping up his competitive ski career in 2015, Jake worked at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center instructing skiing, managing the shop, and generally being a jack-of-all-trades. He returned to Craftsbury in 2016 to coach the junior and BKL programs. In the summers, he works with the GRP athletes and summer U23 program as well. Jake likes hanging out with his dog Wilson, eating chips, riding his mountain bike, playing lawn games, and casually curating fantastic gym playlists.
Certifications:
USSA L200
SafeSport
Wilderness First Aid
CPR and First Aid, AED
Audrey Mangan
Assistant Junior/BKL Coach
Education: Harvard University (BA in Environmental Science and Public Policy)
Hometown Honeoye Falls, NY
Home Ski Club: Honeoye Falls-Lima High School
Audrey hails from Honeoye Falls, NY, where she both skied and ran competitively through high school. She continued competing successfully in cross country running, skiing, and track at Harvard University. Audrey graduated in 2010 with a degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy, then headed west to Boulder, CO. There, she helped coach the Boulder Nordic Junior Race Team before starting a two-year job as an associate editor for FasterSkier. In 2013, Audrey came back east to be the assistant coach for the Harvard Nordic ski team, a position she held for three seasons while guiding the team to growth and success. During her time at Harvard, she also worked as an administrative fellow for the Department of Athletics. Audrey decided to move to Vermont in 2016 to coach the Craftsbury junior/BKL programs and live the country life. In the past few years, Audrey has periodically organized Vermont’s EHSC and U16 teams and coached at numerous Junior Nationals. In her free time Audrey likes running, mountain biking, making cookies, and gardening. She is also a cat lady.
Certifications:
USSA L200
SafeSport
Wilderness First Aid
CPR and First Aid, AED
PMBIA Level 1
Ollie Burruss
Nordic Race Director; Masters Ski Coach; Mountain Bike Program Director; Assistant Junior/BKL Coach
Education: Harvard University (BA in History)
Hometown: Sherborn, MA
Home Ski Club: Cambridge Sports Union
Ollie came to skiing as a high schooler, competing at Harvard during his college career before being named to the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. After two years of competing for the GRP, he moved to Bend and joined XC Oregon as a post-grad athlete. He competed another two years for XC Oregon before moving back east with Anna. While in Burlington, he worked for Ursa Major in marketing and coached with the Mansfield Nordic Club as well. Ollie was thrilled to move back to Craftsbury, where he can ski and mountain bike right out his door. When he's not planning races, he helps out with junior and BKL practices and works as a ski tech for the club and the GRP. Ollie loves playing outside with his daughters Emma and Ava and dog Hazel, as well as mountain biking, trivia, fried chicken, geeking out about ski wax, and Anna.
Certifications:
USSA L100
SafeSport
CPR and First Aid, AED
Wilderness First Aid
PMBIA Level 1
IMBA Level 1
Rick Costanza
Assistant Junior/BKL Coach
Education: SUNY Cobleskill (Fisheries and Wildlife Technology); University of Maine, Orono (BS in Biology)
Hometown: Ravena, NY
Home Ski Club: NYSEF
Rick has been involved with competitive skiing and biathlon for over 40 years and his accolades are too many to count. His introduction to Nordic skiing was during his time at SUNY Cobleskill, where his team won the Junior College National Championships in 1978 and skiing became a lifelong passion. He moved to the Lake Placid in 1984 to monitor fisheries for the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corp, and at the age of 30 he took up biathlon and earned his way onto the US National Team for Summer Biathlon, competing in the Summer Biathlon World Championships in 1996 and 1998. After the birth of his daughter, Rick started coaching with NYSEF and refereeing for biathlon. Rick and his family moved to Vermont in 2011, where he began coaching for the Mansfield Nordic Club. Rick was recruited to help coach kids and masters in Craftsbury in 2017, and continues to be involved with Nordic and biathlon events around the country. He has been Chief of Stadium for biathlon World Cups and World Juniors and has attended countless races as a coach and wax tech.
Rick and his wife Mary are currently building a home in Elmore, VT. He enjoys time on the trails, gravel road riding, and canoeing.
Certifications:
USSA L200
SafeSport
CPR and First Aid, AED
IR license, International Biathlon Union
Nick Brown
Wax Technician; Assistant GRP Coach
Education: University of New Hampshire '04/Humboldt State University (BS in Computer Science)
Hometown: Alstead, NH
Home Ski Club: Putney Ski Club
Nick spent his undergraduate years at the University of New Hampshire, where he was a member of the Nordic Ski Team. He graduated in 2004, and continued his schooling at Humboldt State University in California. Nick came to the NEK from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, CO. At CRMS Nick taught math and coached the Nordic team. He has always been interested in skis and ski preparation, and has also worked as a sports and outdoor photographer. Nick's primary responsibility is selecting, managing, testing, waxing and maintaining team equipment for the GRP skiers, but he works with the junior programs as well. When not in Craftsbury or on the road with the GRP, Nick lives with his partner Sara in Carbondale.
Mike Gibson
GRP Biathlon Coach
Education: University of VT (BS in Mechanical Engineering)
Hometown: Stowe, VT
Home Ski Club: Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club
Mike grew up in Stowe and has been coming to Craftsbury since he was young, attending the annual pre-Christmas training camp and then regularly training under Pepa Miloucheva starting his freshman year of high school. After racing for the Stowe High School ski team, Mike attended UVM, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. Mike went on to compete with the GRP as a biathlete for 5 years, then was an assistant coach for US Biathlon before returning to Craftsbury. Outside of coaching biathlon, Mike enjoys tinkering on house projects, walking at a leisurely pace to wherever he’s going, making popcorn, and hanging out with his dog, Oskar.
Certifications:
SafeSport
CPR and First Aid
USOPC certified mental health first aid
USBA L2 Official
Ethan Dreissigacker
Head Junior Biathlon Coach; Assistant GRP Biathlon Coach
Education: Dartmouth College (BS in Engineering)
Hometown: Morrisville, VT
Home Ski Club: Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club
Ethan grew up ski racing for Craftsbury Nordic, claiming several top finishes at Junior Nationals before heading to Dartmouth College. At age 12 he started doing biathlon and went on to race in five World Junior Biathlon Championships from 2008-2012. Ethan joined the GRP in 2013 and, in addition to training, worked on a variety of engineering projects including snowmaking waste heat recovery and infrastructure design. In the spring of 2017, Ethan decided to shift his focus to coaching and working on projects for Lost Nation Research & Development, a small machine shop and design lab that he started in Craftsbury. Ethan's other interests include his dogs, hunting, fishing, and tinkering.
Certifications:
SafeSport
CPR and First Aid
Wilderness First Aid
Kara Dunn
Catamounts Head Coach
Education: University of Maine at Orono (BS in Botany and Landscape Horticulture)
Hometown: Jeffersonville, VT
Home Ski Club: Craftsbury
Kara's main desire in life is to adventure with happiness as long as possible. This started with competing in XC skiing, lacrosse and XC running as a child. College encouraged this with the UMaine ski club, lacrosse, and riding the bike trails as many times as possible before graduation. From there, with her now husband of 17 years in tow, she traveled west to Bellingham, Washington in 2001. Joining the Dirt World Mt. Bike team had her racing up and down the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. 2003 led to Durango, Colorado, where she guided white water rafting tours, changed oil at the local quick lube (what?!) and discovered 12 and 24 hour mt. bike racing. Moving east to coastal Maine in 2004, she repeatedly reached the podium in 6 and 12 hour races throughout New England, as a solo racer for another 8 years. During this time, Kara added 3 more loves to her life - Siri, Sam, and Effie! Seeking snow, mountains, and skiing for her and her new family, she returned home to beautiful Vermont in 2011. Being a nordic ski intsructor at Smugglers Notch, and coaching the Westford Elementary ski team inspired her to pursue teaching skiing at a higher level, which brought her to Craftsbury in 2016. Kara, who is basically constantly building a house in some new place, is also an instructor for the Craftsbury touring center, as well the lead coach for Catamounts. Kara feels strongly that chocolate chip cookies are the only acceptable kind of cookie, continually day dreams about future adventures, and is eternally hopeful that masters ski practice will one day play "stones" like the BKL kids do.
Certifications:
CPR and First Aid, AED