MARQUETTE, Mich. – The St. Olaf College men's and women's alpine skiing teams both qualified for next month's U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) National Championships, as the men won the team title and the women placed second at the USCSA Midwest Regional Championships this past weekend at Marquette Mountain.
Men's Recap
The St. Olaf men accounted for five of the six podium spots on the weekend, with senior
Alex Harris and first year
Kaarl Damberg finishing in the top-two spots in both races. Harris posted the top times in both runs on his way to winning the slalom (1:14.27), followed by Damberg (1:15.39), on Saturday before Damberg (52.97) edged Harris (53.12) for the title in the giant slalom on Sunday.
The Oles eased to the team title in the men's slalom as first year
Parker Smith joined Harris and Damberg on the podium with a third-place finish (1:16.20), giving St. Olaf a podium sweep. St. Olaf's six place points put them well ahead of second-place Minnesota Duluth's total of 34. Junior
Marshall Quist also placed in the top 10 in sixth (1:17.16).
St. Olaf followed up its slalom title by winning the giant slalom the next day with 12 place points, three ahead of the University of Michigan. After trailing Harris by three one-hundredths of a second after the first run, Damberg posted the fastest second run (27.82) to leapfrog Harris for the individual title with a time of 52.97 over the two runs. Junior
Denver Link added a ninth-place finish (54.98) after moving up from 12th after the first run.
Women's Recap
The Ole women also won the slalom team title, as senior
Allie Clarke finished second (1:21.36) to lead the way. St. Olaf finished atop the team standings with 16 place points, 13 ahead of the University of Wisconsin. First year
Rachel Tanner (1:21.92) and sophomore
Sheridan Westphal (1:23.14) were also in the top 10 in sixth and eighth, respectively.
St. Olaf took third in the team standings in the giant slalom with 36 points, trailing the University of Wisconsin (18) and the University of Minnesota (29). Clarke again led the way in eighth (1:01.66), moving up into the top 10 after sitting 12th after the first run. Westphal also moved up the standings from 19th to 12th (1:02.10) after posting the eighth-fastest second run (29.99).
The USCSA National Championships are held at Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, N.Y. from Mar. 8-14.
