Ski Team Tenth at Middlebury; Three Women Reach Nationals

In a meet dominated by Scandinavian transplants, the men's and women's skiteams from Harvard plowed to tenth place finishes in the 47th Annual Middlebury College Carnival held last weekend in Middlebury, Vermont.

The Crimson was led by Judy Rubinowitz, Vera Fajtova and Kris Hodgkins, who qualified for next weekend's AIAW competitions. The AIAW tournament, which is being held in New Mexico, is the equivalent of the men's NCAA championship.

Rubinowitz skied 15 kilometers through the hard-crusted snow to place sixth in the women's cross country race. Middlebury copped the three top spots in the event and placed first in the overall team standings.

In the giant slalom, Hodgkins ended in ninth place while Fajtova followed closely in 15th. The girls reversed their order and improved in the slalom, placing eigth and 12th, respectively.

The men did not fare as well as the women, losing to such skiers as Kare Jerje, who won the jumping, or Karsten Midvedt, the cross country champion. Herje and Midvedt found the snow agreeable to their Norwegian temperaments and led University of Vermont to the men's title.

Eric Klaussen finished 23rd on the packed powder of the slalom run and Allen Hale followed in 28th for the Crimson. Andy Demars led the Harvard cross country contingent with his effort.

Dave Rand placed in both the jumping and cross country events to wind up third in the Nordic combined competition.

Although skiing is a full-fledged varsity sport, the women may not be able to make the trip to the nationals due to a lack of funds. Rubinowitz said yesterday that the women may have to foot the bill themselves if they want to go to New Mexico.

"Skiing and Harvard don't mesh real well," added Rubinowitz. "It's difficult to do both thoroughly. I feel like a weekend skier." Hopefully this weekend the women will get a chance to ski for Harvard at the nationals.