Harvard In Ninth Yet Again

It’s been nothing but nines for the Harvard ski team. Finishing in ninth for the sixth straight time, the Crimson kicked off a promising new season at the University of New Hampshire Carnival this weekend. The Nordic team headed to Jackson XC, and the alpine team hit the slopes at Attitash, the sites of this year’s upcoming NCAA championships.

“We were in ninth place again,” said Crimson Nordic coach Peter Graves. “That’s where we were every carnival last year…You can have great performances and still be in ninth place overall.”

Although Harvard missed out on the league’s first carnival because of final exams, the Crimson came out with a total of 208 points, edging St. Michael’s, Bowdoin, UMPI and Clarkson.

“Everyone else had one carnival under their belt,” senior Katie Connors said. “In spite of that, we had a pretty strong showing. The first carnival’s always working out the kinks and getting back on the snow after what’s usually an exhausting exam period for most people.”

Captain Jennifer Harlow led the Nordic team with a 31st place finish in the women’s 5K free in 21:29.8, contributing to a ninth-place finish for Harvard in that event. Harlow also clocked in at 39:08.8 in the 10K classic, landing her a spot in 32nd.

“All in all, you can see that our best women’s performances came from Jennifer Harlow,” Graves said. “That’s not a bad start for her. She will definitely get faster as the season progresses.”

Freshmen Kaitlyn Coil, Audrey Mangan and Trevor Petach got their first college starts as well, competing in the women’s 5K free, women’s 10K classic, and men’s 10K classic, respectively. Mangan’s time of 40:49.3 landed her in 48th place in the classic, only 16 spots behind Harlow.

“Just to get through [the first run] is really good, and they did it with poise,” Graves said. “I was particularly pleased with the skiing of Audrey Mangan. That’s pretty impressive for a freshman to come in and do as well as she did.”

For the men, sophomore David McCahill slid into the 52nd spot, coming in at 26:40.6, followed by junior Oliver Burruss, whose 27:18.4 time secured him 60th place. Burruss also took home 72nd place in the 10K classic, sweeping in at 34:46.6.

Although Harvard is satisfied with this weekend’s finish, they are looking for higher marks at the Vermont Carnival this weekend.

“We want to move up into eighth and into seventh as we get better,” Graves said. “That’s going to take time and a lot of hard work, but we’re absolutely moving in the right direction. Our kids really work very hard, and we’re pushing forward and expect to be faster next weekend.”

—Staff writer Courtney D. Skinner can be reached at cskinner@fas.harvard.edu.