DULUTH/LUTSEN, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's and women's alpine skiing teams competed in a series of FIS/USSS races at both Spirit Mountain and Lutsen Mountain from Friday through Monday.
On Friday, the Ole men race in two slalom races at Spirit Mountain and got a pair of top-20 finishes from first year
Graham Barwick, who was 14th (1:37.37) in the first race and 15th (1:39.97) in the second race. Junior
Kaarl Damberg and sophomore
Ethan Ross joined Barwick in the top 20 in the first face, finishing 13th (1:37.17) and 17th (1:37.49), respectively. The next day, the men competed in another slalom race in Duluth and got top-20 performances from Damberg (10th, 1:36.85) and Barwick (1:37.80).
The St. Olaf women also competed in three slalom races at Spirit Mountain on Saturday and Sunday. Senior
Sheridan Westphal led the way for the Oles in Saturday's race in 26th place (1:32.98). Sophomore
Merumo Ishimaru paced St. Olaf in the first race on Sunday, finishing 14th (1:33.17), and was joined in the top 25 by Westhphal (20th, 1:35.13) and first year
Kate Young (25th, 1:37.28). Ishimaru's 31st-place performance (1:32.72) in Sunday's second race was the best on the team.
On Monday, both teams traveled to Lutsen Mountain for two giant slalom events. Damberg recorded the best finish of the extended weekend for both teams, finishing as the runner-up in the first race in 2:09.41, while Barwick added a third-place performance in the second race (2:11.29). Ishimaru led the way for the women's team in both of Monday's races, finishing 14th (2:20.71) and eighth (2:20.01), while Westphal added a 16th-place showing in the first race (2:21.60).
The Oles return to Spirit Mountain in USCSA competition on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 12-13.
