Skiing Takes Home Another Top Ten Finish at Williams Carnival

The Harvard Nordic and Alpine Ski team took home its fifth consecutive top-10 finish this weekend, finishing 10th out of the 16 teams competing in the annual Williams Carnival. The team posted strong individual performances throughout the weekend, with junior Rachel Hampton bringing home top-20 finishes in the 5K and 10K races and seniors Annie Harvieux and Hanna Barnes both earning career-best finishes.

The Nordic team took to the slopes Friday and Saturday in Lake Placid, N.Y. In the women’s 10K, finishing less than 15 seconds after Hampton, Harvieux posted her top finish of the season at 24th. Barnes was hot on her heels in 30th, and freshman Hannah Hardenbergh, freshman Nina Armstrong, and sophomore Charlotte Cole followed in 42nd, 46th, and 52nd respectively.

In the men’s 10K, junior Devlin Shea and sophomore Connor Green led the way in 39th and 40th, respectively, followed by Liam Mulshine in 44th.

Hampton finished the 5K in 46:32 to take 15th, followed by Barnes with a career-best 24th and Harvieux in 27th. Their efforts put Harvard in 8th place of the 13 teams.

On the men’s side, Shea again led the pack for the Crimson, this time finishing in 37th. Junior Ian Meyer and Green rounded out the men’s team in 43rd and 44th, respectively.

“This was a really unusual weekend for us,” co-captain Soren Anderson said. “We typically don’t race 5K’s and because they are such a small part of our schedule we don’t really train to race them…. Overall I think we did well given our limited preparation.”

In addition to racing a shorter distance than usual, the Nordic team faced a rain scare and unusually warm temperatures.

“We were worried that it was going to rain,” Anderson said. “It held off for the most part and luckily we were able to find the right wax for the conditions which is…. difficult considering what we were dealing with.”

On the Alpine side, sophomore Kelly Steeves led the team with top-30 finishes in both the Slalom and Giant Slalom races. Steeves was the only Harvard scorer in the Giant Slalom, finishing 25th, and she clocked in at 27th in the Slalom race, followed by junior Kaitlyn Gibson at 47th.

Alice Merryweather, the sister of men’s co-captain Simon, also raced in the Williams Carnival, finishing with a time of 1:34.94 in Friday's Giant Slalom, which would have been good for fourth in the collegiate results.

The younger Merryweather deferred her acceptance from Harvard and is currently skiing on the United States Ski Team. She was recently named to the 2016 FIS Alpine Junior Worlds Team and will be competing for the United States in the Junior World Ski Championships from February 24th – March 5th at Rosa Khutor in Sochi, Russia.

“I think Simon had a really great time racing with [Alice] again,” Steeves said. “We are very excited for when she comes to join us.”

Due to the unusually warm weather and changing temperatures, the location and timing of the team’s next race is unclear. If there is sufficient snow, the EISA Championships will take place next weekend.

“It doesn’t really look like anywhere that we might race has snow as of now…. But we’ll probably find someplace,” Anderson said.

With only two more races lined up for the season, the team is looking forward to keeping up its momentum and finishing on a strong note.

“I think especially the seniors are really ready to ski hard and go fast,” Steeves said. “We are really going to try to put it all on the line and prove to everyone what we can do.”