Skiing Squads Rate Mixed Weekend Reviews

The Harvard ski team opened its carnival season with a thud--the sound of a team finishing last in a field of 11 colleges at Vermont last weekend.

Nearly all of Harvard's performances were disappointing, although some of this was expected of the relatively inexperienced skiers who went up against the best in the East. The usual trio of Vermont, Dartmouth and Middlebury overpowered the rest of the field.

The main problem with the squad lay with the jumping corps. "We have had to create our jumpers," coach Dave Hubbard said yesterday. "The teams we go against have jumpers who have high school experience." The Harvard fly-boys, relying on the strength of David Rand's performance, managed only seven points while the other teams picked up at least 20 to 30 points.

The cross-country skiers did a little better, finishing ninth. Only 1:30 separated the 20th and 35th finishers, and it was there that Ken Houston, Andy DeMars and John "Catfish" Hunter all made their marks.

The alpiners "have been skiing well in practice, but we just choked," captain Peter Anton said. "The snow was soft and lots of people fell or were disqualified."

Anton was the lone star or the alpine squad, finishing twelfth in the giant slalom and tenth in the slalom. Eric Jewett and Alan Hale, who had figured to aid Harvard's cause, each finished only one of the two races because of falls and disqualifications.

Both coach Hubbard and the skiers feel there is lots of room for improvement and hope to rank seventh in Division I by season's end.

The Radcliffe ski team finished an impressive third in a field of seven at St. Lawrence over the weekend in its first Division II appearance.

The 'Cliffe had only moved into the new league this year with the establishment of its cross-country team, as point totals of both alpine and cross-country skiers are needed to determine a squad's standing in Division II.

Eleventh Position

Friday's races opened with the giant slalom. Radcliffe finished third overall in this contest, with Vera Fajtova placing fifth. Captain Carly Singer finished in the eleventh position, and Lenny Wilson schussed in at number 13.

Later that afternoon the five kilometer cross-country race moved Radcliffe into second place by a single point. Though only two of the women had ever raced competitively before, both came through in fine style. Eleanor Apthorp breezed to second place, and Judy Rabinowitz, who skied at the Junior Nationals last year, finished fourth.

First-Ever

The two other women racers turned in strong performances in their first-ever races. Sometime rower Wikki Royden finished 22nd "on hard-core crew strength," Captain Singer said yesterday. Judy Giddes came in 28th.

Saturday's slalom dropped Radcliffe back into its final third place standing. Ace freshman Fajtova turned in a fourth place finish, missing the third spot by a mere four-tenths of a second.

Lenny Wilson finished 13th again and Karen Linsley placed 17th on the dual courses.