Skiing Earns Third Straight Top-10 Result

Over the past two weekends, the Harvard Nordic and alpine team traveled to Vermont to compete in the UVM Winter Carnival. While the Nordic team raced January 30th to January 31st, the alpine team took to the snow this past weekend. The Crimson placed 10th of 16 teams overall for the third consecutive time this season.

In the Nordic races this weekend, the women’s team showed consistency and significant improvement. Junior Rachel Hampton led Harvard in the women’s 10K classic, clinching a 25th place with 29:30.2, while senior Hannah Barnes was hot on her heels at 28th place. With all six racers clocking in before 43rd place, the team claimed a top-five finish overall.

“The girls’ team did especially well…. [The finish] was unheard of for us,” co-captain Soren Anderson said. “Both the girls’ team and the guys’ team are on an upward trajectory.”

The Crimson placed 8th overall in the women’s 5K classic. Hampton again led the pack with in 19th with 12:35.7, followed by senior Annie Harvieux at 33rd and Hannah Barnes at 37th of 70 racers.

The men’s Nordic team felt the impact of a few illnesses this weekend, placing 11th in the 10K and 12th in the 5K. Anderson claimed first for the Crimson in 39th. Junior Ian Meyer and sophomore Liam Mulshine finished close behind at 44th and 45th, respectively, in the 10K.

“On the guys’ side, we all seemed to switch in and out of scoring positions, which was fun,” Anderson said. “We all get a chance to contribute.”

The trio of Anderson, Meyer, and Mulshine took 47th, 48th, and 49th of 68 in the 10K classic.

“This has been a really weird season. We’ve had two weeks on and then a by week, and both of the first two carnivals were a different format, so we’ve had a hard time getting into rhythm,” Anderson said.

This weekend, the alpine team performed well against both collegiate and unusual non-collegiate athletes. Skiers on the World Cup circuit, who had been in Austria only days prior to the race, decided to participate in the UVM Carnival for extra training.

Taking on the challenge of extra competition, sophomore Kelly Steeves placed in the top-25 for both the Giant Slalom and Slalom races. The Whistler, British Columbia native has consistently placed in the top-30s this season and last, gaining crucial points for the team.

“For Kelly to place so well amongst non-collegiate skiers was really incredible,” sophomore Pieter Weemaes said.

Freshman Molly Leavens followed Steeves in the GS at 43rd. In the slalom race, junior co-captain Kaitlyn Gibson placed 50th, and senior Samantha Udolf rounded out the Harvard showing at 51st.

On the men’s side, a variety of skiers contributed points throughout the races. Co-captain Simon Merryweather, freshman Dennis Bao, and Weemaes all qualified for the second round of the GS. Weemaes claimed first for Harvard at 41st with Merryweather close behind at 42nd and Bao finishing at 46th.

A particularly icy course allowed the skiers to stay competitive throughout the day, as the snow did not deteriorate as skiers raced through the same course. But the icy conditions meant mistakes had a greater impact on time than usual, which was seen in the slalom race.

“I made a pretty big error so I didn’t register to finish,” Weemaes said. “But as a team, we had an extremely good day, we were ninth overall for the day which was incredibly since normally we don’t place that many men into the result sheets at all.”

Merryweather led at 33rd, followed by junior Kalvis Hornburg, senior Dan Rittenhouse, and Bao, to boost the Crimson to a top-10 finish.

“That was one of our most successful days of alpine skiing,” Weemaes said.

With three carnivals under its belt and three more to go, the Harvard Nordic and Alpine team is at the middle of its season. As a whole, continuously improving technique and team chemistry has allowed the team to maintain consistent and upward-trending placement.

—Staff writer Jamie Chen can be reached at jamiechen@college.harvard.edu.