As the winter season approaches, winter athletes gear up for success both on the court and on the ice. Winter athletes ranging from hockey players, swimmers, and skiers have a go-to pregame meal that fuels them for success in their competition. Although these meals may be repetitive each week, these athletes look forward to their signature meal influenced by people in their lives.
Senior girls’ hockey player Lulu Rucinski credits her trainer, Dave Lynn, with the discovery of her well-fueling pre-game meal of homemade steak and potatoes. Rucinski most commonly keeps this meal simple tasting, but occasionally adds garlic and cheese to the mix. Rucinski enjoys this pre-game meal either before arriving at the rink or on the road when she travels for competition. “I would recommend this meal to other athletes because it touches into all the food groups I need to be eating before I play to energize and get me through a game,” Rucinski said.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s senior hockey captain Carter Callan may be keeping the well-known sub shop Subway in business as he purchases the same menu item every gameday to achieve success on the ice. Callan’s go-to order consists of white bread, turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, cucumbers, and honey mustard. He believes this treasured sandwich puts him in the zone and gives him increased levels of energy before defending his competition. “I went to Subway before a preseason scrimmage with Michael Risteau my sophomore year of high school and he got me hooked on never changing this sandwich order, it’s perfect,” Callan said.
Downhill skier Ellie Chiculinni, a junior here at BSM, grew to love her pregame meal at the family dinner table. Chiculinni’s mother’s signature dish consists of spaghetti with her family’s red sauce recipe. Chiculinni occasionally switches her pregame meal to spaghetti with different sauces including butter and seasoning, alfredo, and meat sauce. “This meal keeps me warm before going to the slopes and makes me happy,” Chiculinni said.
Frank Rokala, a freshman swimmer, is a frequent customer at Noodles company where he purchases his pregame meal every meet day. Rokala sticks to a classic menu item spaghetti and meatballs while pairing it with parmesan-crusted bread. Rokala has not grown tired of this meal and relies on it for his fast race time in the pool. “This is my pregame meal because it both tastes good and has lots of carbohydrates which are good for athletes,” Rokala said.