At Regional Championships, Skiing Falls Outside Top 10

Racing against not only a competitive field of skiers but also the melting snow from record-setting heat, the Harvard alpine and nordic ski teams competed in the NCAA Regional Championship hosted by Bates College on Friday and Saturday. The Crimson finished in 11th place out of the 16 EISA teams competing. .

In the alpine giant slalom event, the uncooperative weather caused rapidly deteriorating course conditions that forced the second run of the race to be canceled.

“It was definitely another challenging weekend for the team,” junior Kelly Steeves said. “The weather and snow conditions were far from ideal. It was really warm the entire weekend and this lead to a lot of deterioration on the course.”

Overcoming the challenging conditions, Steeves led the women in the giant slalom, finishing 55th overall. Senior Kaitlyn Gibson was the top slalom finisher, placing 54th.

Freshman Carter Kendig continued to lead the men, finishing his strong first year with a 31st-place finish in the giant slalom. Senior Kalvis Hornburg led the way in slalom, coming in 39th overall.

As a team, Dartmouth continued its alpine dominance, winning its fifth carnival of the season

Meanwhile, on the nordic side, Harvard senior Rachel Hampton and freshman William Rhatigan led the way with a pair of top-25 finishes.

Hampton skied to a 23rd-place finish in the women's 15K FS MS, crossing the finish line in 48:09.3. Sophomore Hannah Hardenbergh was right behind her, finishing with a time 49:22.3, good for 32nd place overall. In the 5K Classic, Hardenbergh led Harvard with a time of 18:10.46, placing in 28th.

Freshman Tegan Thorley also recorded strong finishes in both nordic events, crossing the finish in 35th place for the 5K and 39th for the 15K.

Only a freshman, Rhatigan impressed with a 22nd-place finish in the men’s 20K FS MS, competing the course in 54:54.3. He also took home 36th in the 10K, just after teammate senior Ian Meyer, who was 35th.

“We were skiing in the rain for most of the day Saturday but we had a good showing even though the conditions were not ideal,” Steeves said. “It was not the nicest day for our seniors’ last race, but everyone made the best of it.”

—Staff writer Rena Simkowitz can be reached at rena.simkowitz@thecrimson.com.