Skiing Stumbling To Finish Line

In the second-to-last event of their respective seasons, the Harvard men’s and women’s skiing teams placed last at the Williams Carnival in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Inclement conditions hurt the shothanded Crimson squad, and left Harvard hoping for a better showing next weekend at the season-ending Middlebury Carnival.

Harvard finished last among eleven teams, well behind first-place Vermont and Ivy runner-up Dartmouth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association event.

The high point for Harvard came with sophomore Anna McLoon’s ninth-place finish in the women’s 10k classic race on Friday. McLoon posted a time of 34:15.5, and was the only Harvard athlete to finish in the top 30 in any event.

Captain Kate Damon also competed in the 10k, finishing with a time of 41:24.7.

The men’s 10k classic saw senior Boris Granovskiy finish in 53rd place, with classmate Misha Lipatov and sophomore Ross McDonald in 62nd and 63rd place, respectively.

Freshman Carrie Brazier finished in 31st place in the women’s giant slalom with a total time of 2:23.74. Senior Sarah Luskin and sophomore Rachael Wagner finished in 44th and 45th place, respectively, in that event.

In the men’s giant slalom, Harvard struggled again, with all five Crimson skiiers who finished the race bringing up the rear of the pack. Captain Kenan Stern, along with seniors Matthew Rosenberg and Matthew Barber and juniors Ryan Myers and Bryan Bellmare, finished in slots No. 50 through 54.

The conditions at the Williams Carnival were a concern to the team, as was the fact that Harvard was not able to field a full team for the entire weekend. Both of these factors contributed to the Crimson’s last-place showing, according to Brazier.

“It was pretty tough on the hill,” she said.

“The conditions were really icy, not good skiing conditions,” Wagner added. “It was good that we all managed to finish without getting injured.”

Looking ahead to the last race of the season this Friday and Saturday in Vermont, the Crimson says it hopes to improve on this past weekend’s performance and put in a respectable showing. One of the keys to that end will be fielding a full team.

‘We’ll have a full team this time and hopefully we’ll do well,” Braizer said.