Skiers Powder Weekend Competition Men First, Women Second at Tourney

The Harvard men's skiing team won the Colby-Sawyer Carnival in Putney, Vt. this weekend, and the women's squad grabbed second place for the teams' most satisfying showings of the season.

The men boosted by a pair of strong slalom performances from P.A. Weiner, edged MIT, 326-322, while the women--sparked by an incredible Nordic team--fell just one point short of Colby, 347-346.

The women's Nordic skiers accomplished the unheard-of, recording 199 of a possible 200 points while placing finishers in three of the top four positions. Manya Deehr, Joy Clendenning and Kirsten Berggren finished first, second and fourth respectively for the Crimson.

In the relay, the women bested Colby over the 18-kilometer course by the large margin of 11 minutes.

The incredible Nordic showing was backed up by the solid Alpine skiing of Jonna Gaberman (seventh in slalom, ninth in giant slalom) and Missy Dubroff (eighth, tenth).

For the men, sophomore star Weiner captured first place in the giant slalom, and nabbed third in the slalom.

Other Alpine skiers who contributed to Harvard's victory were Dave Wood (11th in slalom), Jeff Packer, Walt Sujanski and Russ Muirhead.

The Crimson skied slightly below expectations in Friday's individual Nordic competition, with John Seybold placing ninth, Dan Corey 12th, and Drew Harmon--who broke a pole during the race--13th.

On Saturday, the men placed second overall in the relay. Seybold set out on a fast pace to begin the race, but finished his leg in third place. Harmon pushed the squad up a notch in the second leg, while Corey held on in the third leg to seal the overall second-place finish.

"We have a good balance between the nordic and Alpine skiers for the men," Coach George Weir said. "For the women, we have complete Nordic domination--with the best Nordic performance in the history of the women's ski team--backed up by solid support from the Alpine women."