Women’s Nordic Team Leads Crimson Effort

One is a traditional powerhouse that’s hosting the EISA championships next weekend and has two alums competing for Team USA in Vancouver. The other is an upstart program from Boston without a home course. One placed fourth overall, and the other placed ninth.

But at the Williams Ski Carnival, the city slickers had their way on skate skis. The Harvard women’s Nordic team topped the Middlebury Panthers in the 5k free race, as the schools went 6th and 7th, respectively.

“It was a really good weekend for us,” Nordic captain Audrey Mangan said. “We beat Middlebury [in the 5k free], which was really good. It’s exciting.”

The women’s nordic team has been a contender in the classic events all season long, and its breakout skate skiing race marks it as a legitimate threat. Once again, the team put together a strong classic race en route to a fifth-place finish, even topping the University of New Hampshire, which placed third overall in the carnival.

Mangan had been lurking in the background the past two weekends while her freshmen teammates Alena Tofte and Esther Kennedy garnered attention, but the Williams course suited the senior’s 5’9’’ stature.

“It was a course that favored tall people because a lot of it is flat,” Mangan said. “It uses upper body strength.”

Mangan seized the opportunity, placing 13th in the classic event and 17th in the free event. With Kennedy, Tofte, and junior Cara Sprague finishing 17th, 22nd, and 29th in the classic event, the team took 3 spots in the top 25 and four in the top 30. Kennedy and Tofte followed that up with back to back finishes in the skate skiing event, taking 27th and 28th in the 5k free.

But, overall, the day was Mangan’s.

“Audrey was phenomenal,” said Nordic coach Chris City ’94.

Another emerging strength for the Crimson is the women’s giant slalom, in which Harvard took sixth. Sophomore Caroline McHugh led the way with an 18th-place finish in the event.

“Caroline McHugh had another fantastic day,” Alpine Coach Tim Mitchell said. “[It’s been] three consecutive GS’s where she’s been top 25 or so. She’s starting in the 50s, so she’s cutting her start number in half. She’s doing exceptionally well.”

Meanwhile, the men’s alpine team showed improvement, moving from 10th place to 9th in the slalom.

“They moved up a spot,” Mitchell said. “They finally started to have consistent finishes. They’ve been going fast. Unfortunately it’s close to the end of the season.”

For its part, the men’s alpine team placed 11th in both the classic and free events.

In the end, nothing changed in the overall order for the Crimson or for the top teams. Despite breakthrough performances, eighth place still remained elusive for Harvard by over 100 points, while the Crimson managed to hold ninth place by 99 points.

At the other end of the pack, the competition was much closer. The University of Vermont stormed out to a 40 point lead and looked like it might finally end Dartmouth’s undefeated streak. But the Big Green rallied to win four events and take the Carnival by only two points.

Part of the reason for a shake-up in the early results may have been tricky wind conditions on Friday.

“It was very difficult conditions,” Mitchell said. “It was incredibly windy. There were some people that skied really well and went slow and some who skied mediocre and caught wind [and went fast].”

Such conditions may make results equally unpredictable as the teams head into the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships next weekend at Rikert and Snow Bowl.

The Crimson Alpine team had success earlier this season at the Bowl in exhibition races.

“The girls are really looking forward to racing there,” Mitchell said.

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.