Baizer’s 15 Points Lead Skiing Team

The Harvard alpine and nordic skiing teams stumbled out of the gate in their first carnival of the year, with a last-place finish this past weekend in Bethel, Maine.

The Crimson placed dead-last in the alpine competition, while the nordic squad fared little better, placing second-to-last in this weekend’s event, hosted by Bates College at the Sunday River Ski Resort.

In alpine action, Harvard managed to scrape up 35 points thanks to an all-around effort—seven different skiers contributed points to the final score.

Freshman Carrie Baizer was Harvard’s story of the day, recording a team-best 15 points in her first collegiate race. Nine of those 15 were won in the giant slalom event, in which Baizer managed a 29th-place finish after being seeded 54th.

“[Baizer] turned in one of the best performances I’ve ever seen,” senior co-captain Kenan Stern said.

Stern tied with junior Bryan Bellmare in adding five points apiece to the 35-point effort.

That total was not enough however. The next-lowest finisher, St. Michael’s College, notched 83 points, while alpine champion Vermont had an astounding 356 points in its winning effort.

Despite the tough loss, the team said it had not lost hope.

“The weekend went very well,” Bellmare said. “After preseason training we were just trying to get into racing mode.”

Other top finishers for the Crimson in the alpine portion included sophomore Matt Perone, who recorded a 51st place finish and picked up four points.

The Crimson alpine team hopes to climb the ladder of its 11-team conference after gaining experience this weekend. Last weekend’s competition was the second race for most teams, but Harvard missed the season-opening race due to finals week.

The Sunday River slopes weren’t friendly to many of the first-time racers.

“It was a long and grueling course,” Stern said. “The snow was soft.”

The Crimson’s nordic crew fared slightly better this weekend, thanks largely to the effort of sophomore Anna McLoon.

McLoon, who earned an NCAA berth a year ago, returned to top form, coming in ninth out of 56 competitors in the 5k freestyle while also posting the 10th best second leg time during the 4-by-6k relay.

Together with senior Boris Granovskiy, freshman Ross Feller, and co-captain Kate Damon, McLoon’s relay performance helped secure Harvard 32 points.

All told, McLoon had a hand in 61 of Harvard’s 73 nordic points.

On the men’s side, Granovskiy was the top finisher in the 10k, coming in 54th out of the 62-man field.

The team says it hasn’t been hurt by the mild winter. Harvard trains on a golf course that makes snow, so a lack of winter conditions has not been the problem.

“We are definitely planning on improving, working on getting faster,” Damon said.

The Crimson is back in action next weekend when it travels to Stowe, Vt., for the Vermont carnival.