PHOTO CREDIT: Dylan VonderHaar '26
WILMINGTON, N.Y. – The Saint Joseph's College men's alpine ski team placed 13th with a 4:11.58 composite time in the 2024 United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association (USCSA) Giant Slalom National Championship at Whiteface Mountain on Wednesday.
For the Monks, the 13th-place finish is the team's best at the national level in five seasons as a varsity program. The women's team posted a14th-place performance in the 2022 USCSA Slalom Championships, which was also held at Whiteface Mountain.
Due to unseasonably warm weather for this time of year, the course was already challenging, but as the race started heavy fog rolled in and shortly thereafter it started to rain, making conditions worse. As a result, 41 of 130 individuals did not finish the first run – which in the end turned out to be the only run, as race officials canceled the second stint and used the opening-run times as the final.
Vermont State University – Castleton took home the GS National Championship with a 3:31.87 time while Rocky Mountain College was the runner-up with a 3:38.08 team effort and Clarkson University closed out the podium with a 3:45.01 performance.
Individually, Castleton's Lorenzo Mencaccini topped the field with a 1:07.86 time, nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up Fredrik August from Rocky Mountain College, who posted a 1:09.44 effort. Ethan Ross from St. Olaf's completed the podium with a 1:10.32 time.
FOR THE MONKS:
- Senior Caleb Gorton (Goffstown, N.H.) placed 45th with a 1:22.05 performance
- Junior Jacob Morris (Woodstock, N.H.) finished 55th with a 1:24.76 time
- Sophomore Jack Price (Franconia, N.H.) was 56th with a 1:24.77 effort
- Sophomore Colin Rathbone (Groton, Mass.) posted a 30.16 time on the first split but lost his footing five gates shy of the finish line
- Sophomore Logan Davis (Naples, Maine) notched a 31.53 first-split effort but lost a ski and did not finish
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will compete in the USCSA Slalom National Championship at Whiteface on Friday at 9:30 AM.
It's not too late to rally around our outstanding student-athletes that have helped Saint Joseph's get to the national stage THREE years in a row! We thank you for considering a gift to support the team! This week-long event is a big part of the program's fundraising efforts and now is the time to make an impact for these high-achieving students! We're about halfway to our goal of $10,000 - click the 'Support the Monks!' button to make your gift.
