Alpine, Nordic Ski Teams Battle Inconsistency

It isn't easy living in Boston when you are a skier, and the lack of snow this winter did not make things much easier. But that did not stop the Harvard nordic and alpine ski teams from showing vast improvement over previous seasons, while having a lot of fun doing it.

"We did have a good year," said alpine Coach Joe Harty. "They love the sport, they work as hard as anybody on the sport, and they enjoy it."

The team traveled around New England to participate in carnivals against some of the nation's top ski schools, including No. 1 Vermont. Unlike much of its competition, however, Harvard is at a disadvantage due both to its geography and its schedule.

The carnivals begin during fall reading period, the most hectic time for the Crimson, and although there are only six weekends of competition, training takes place year-round. Though they train separately, the alpine and nordic scores are tallied together in order to determine the ranking at the carnivals.

"It is a huge amount of preparation for a short season," said nordic Coach Matt Bellizzi. "But it is really exciting when you get there."

The team finished 12th out of 18 at the Eastern Championships held at Middlebury February 27 and 28, mediocre at a glance, but an admirable achievement considering many of the members did not take us competitive skiing until college.

"We made a lot of improvement," said junior nordic captain Kellin Anne Davis King. "We really encourage people to try it as long as they are willing to commit to a varsity sport."

King had a great finish to an impressive season, serving as a role model to this young team. The men's nordic team was led by captain Andrew Eliot, a former cross-country and track runner.

"Kellin was our best skier," Bellizzi said. "She had some really good finishes. Andrew skied very well, especially since he had not raced before last year."

"I really enjoyed it. I am very pleased with the way it went," Eliot said.

The women compete in 5K and 15K races, while the men endure 10K and 20K courses. The nordic team trains two hours a day, seven days a week throughout the season. Though such intense training and weekend-long carnivals might intimidate some, these skiers had nothing but positive thoughts when reflecting on the season.

"It really takes a big chunk of time out because you are gone for weekends, but it is worth it," said sophomore Lily Childress. "The team was really a lot of fun and the people were great."

Alpine skiing consists of slalom and giant slalom races, which are the same for both men and women. Despite sporadic practices due to a lot of rain and little snow, the team did its best to compensate by getting to the carnivals early and getting good training spots.

Record: N/A

Coach: Joe Harty (alpine), Matt Bellizzi (nordic)

Seniors: Andrew Eliot, Noah Freeman, Soyoun Song

Women's alpine captain Lisa McTeague and men's captain Soyoun Song both finished the season strongly, with McTeague posting the best results of her career.

"Lisa's a really good ski racer," Harty said. "Soyoun took up the sport having very little race experience. He became pretty fearless. We also had good progress with a lot of our freshman skiers. By the end of the year, they were skiing pretty well."

Such progress was highlighted by the performance of freshman Anna Baxter, who earned a place as an alternate for Nationals.

"I am used to competing against these people," said Baxter, who skied competitively in high school. "We are racing against skiers who train everyday and who went to ski academies. It has been a challenge but it is fun."