Nine Remains Magic Number for Harvard Skiing

Notch up another nine for the Harvard ski team.

Continuing its streak, the Crimson came in ninth for the seventh time in as many contests this weekend at the University of Vermont Carnival.

With the alpine team competing at Stowe and the Nordic side at the Trapp Family Lodge, Harvard edged St Michael’s and Bowdoin with a total score of 186.0 points.

“I think we had one of our best weekends ever as far as team improvement has gone since I’ve been there in five years,” Nordic coach Peter Graves said. “Every week we’re getting a little faster—that’s not a mistake, and that’s not unusual. It happens because we are now in a real racing environment. These guys are up to speed and up to tempo in terms of their pacing on skis. All the lights are green now for speed.”

Senior Jennifer Harlow had a strong finish in the women’s 15K classic, moving up to 23rd with a time of 56:02.1. Not far behind, freshman Audrey Mangan also improved to 31st place in the classic, finishing in 57:09.2.

Harlow, Mangan, and sophomore Anna Schulz led the women in the 3x6 freestyle relay, sliding in 14th of 19 teams in just under a minute, while sophomore Dave McCahill, junior Oliver Burruss, and freshman Trevor Petach landed the men in 13th of 20 teams with a time of 47:06.3.

“That’s a fine finish for them…with a really fantastic first leg by Jennifer Harlow,” Graves said. “They’re improving every week. The men were 13th out of 20 teams, and they actually beat a team of Bates and Willams, among many others, which is really another really great achievement in our progress forward. I haven’t seen that happen in my years here. I’m really encouraged.”

In the women’s giant slalom, senior Katie Connors and junior Alexandria Teng placed in 40th and 41st, respectively, while sophomore Jessica Alvarez followed in 43rd. The men’s 20K classic featured solid finishes from Petrach, whose 38th place finish clinched Harvard’s top mark in the event, and Burruss, who came in 41st with a time of 1:08:25.8, his best finish as a college skier.

“This is all very encouraging as a coach to see for progress,” Graves said. “I try to judge progress individually—how people do compared to a result last week, compared to where they were last year—and we’re making great progress. The truth is, things are really improving for us. I’m pretty optimistic.”

Although the Crimson, particularly the Nordic team, showed marked signs of improvement, Harvard still has much work to do to move up in the league.

“It all has to be tempered by realism,” Graves said. “It might be very difficult to get out of ninth place this year, but we’re trying. For us to do it, it will have to be based on collective performances by the alpine and Nordic teams. It is still going to take a couple years to be a really challenging team in this league, but the individual progress will lead to that.”

The Crimson looks to break into the top eight next weekend at the Dartmouth Carnival.

—Staff writer Courtney D. Skinner can be reached at cskinner@fas.harvard.edu.