LA CROSSE, Wis. – Sophomore
Merumo Ishimaru and first year
Graham Barwick each posted a pair of top-two results as the St. Olaf College men's and women's alpine skiing teams returned to Mt. La Crosse for two days of FIS/USSS competition on Saturday and Sunday.
Ishimaru was the runner-up in Saturday's slalom before winning Sunday's slalom competition to lead the way for the St. Olaf women, while Barwick was second both days for the men. Ishimaru's win on Sunday was the first of her collegiate career and Barwick posted his third and fourth podium finishes of the season.
Men's Recap
St. Olaf had six of the top-15 finishers – including four in the top 10 – in Saturday's slalom, led by Barwick's second-place finish (1:15.7). Barwick had the fasted second run of the day (37.7) to finish just two-tenths of a second behind individual champion Caden Burns (1:15.5).
Junior
Kaarl Damberg recorded back-to-back top-10 runs on the day to finish sixth (1:19.0), while classmates
Parker Smith and
Gabe Lessard finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Smith was 14th after the first run (41.6) before vaulting up to ninth with the sixth-fastest second run (39.0), while Lessard posted consistent runs of 40.8 and 40.6 seconds to finish in the top 10.
Senior
Sean Nolan was 13th (1:22.9) and sophomore
Ryan Arnold was 15th (1:23.9) to round out the six Oles in the top 15.
Barwick made it back-to-back runner-up finishes on Sunday, finishing second in 1:13.3 over the two runs. Both runs were the second-fastest of the day behind individual champion Jack Lindsay (1:12.6).
Smith and Damberg both logged consecutive top-10 runs to finish seventh (1:15.5) and ninth (1:15.6), respectively, while Lessard improved from 23rd after the first run (40.5) to 12th with a strong second run (37.6). Nolan added a top-20 performance in 17th (1:19.7).
Women's Recap
Ishimaru, senior
Sheridan Westphal, and first year
Kate Young all finished in the top 11 on Saturday for the Oles, as Ishimaru recorded the third-fastest runs in each of the two runs to finish second (1:23.9). Ishimaru's time over the two runs was bettered only by individual champion Taylor Voigt (1:22.2).
Westphal recorded a sixth-place showing with a time of 1:28.1 over the two runs, while Young put together two top-15 runs to finish 11th (1:29.8).
On Sunday, Ishimaru led Grace Horejsi by 0.86 seconds after the first run (39.97) before finishing over two seconds ahead of Horejsi with a time of 1:19.31 over the two runs. Westphal was ninth after the opening run (43.19) on her way to a 12th-place finish (1:26.82) and was just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Young in 13th (1:26.83).
St. Olaf returns to USCSA competition at Giants Ridge on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 29-30.
