CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College alpine ski teams made program history with their performance in the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association (USCSA) Eastern Regional Championships at Sugarloaf over the weekend.
The SJC women tallied 12 place points and finished fifth overall while the Monks' men placed seventh with 13 points and both teams - by virtue of their top-seven finishes - have qualified to compete in the USCSA National Championships, which begin on Sunday, March 6th at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, New York.
In just their third year as a varsity program, the Monks started the weekend having already made program history for both teams earning Regional Championship bids for the first time. Head Coach Margot Cosentino has now guided the SJC alpine ski program to new heights as the Monks join Castleton, Babson, Clarkson, University of Connecticut, and Northeastern as one of six programs out of 19 from the USCSA Reynolds, MacConnell, Thompson and McBrine divisions combined to have both squads earn berths into the National Championship.
On the women's side, Castleton topped the field with the minimum of two points while Babson College placed second (4 pts), University of Connecticut was third (7 pts), UMass.-Amherst placed fourth (7 pts), and Saint Joseph's finished in a three-way tie for fifth with Northeastern and Clarkson but won the tiebreaker by way of individual place points.
For the men, Clarkson, Castleton, and Babson finished in a three-way tie for first with four points each, but after the tiebreakers were considered finished first, second and third, respectively. Northeastern placed fourth (10 pts), University of Connecticut was fifth (12 pts), WPI finished sixth (12 pts), and Saint Joseph's rounded out the top seven.
Travis Reardon from UMass.-Amherst and Margaret Beardsley from Brown University will also compete in Lake Placid after earning individual bids into the National Championships.
THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
The SJC men finished Saturday's slalom race in ninth with a 5:37.28 composite time and capped the weekend by placing fourth in the giant slalom with a 5:25.84 total time on Sunday.
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
The women sat in seventh in Saturday's slalom standings with a 4:46.68 composite time and finished fifth in the giant slalom on Sunday with a 5:49.95 total time.
SJC MEN – SLALOM:
- Freshman Jacob Morris (North Woodstock, N.H.) finished 19th with a 1:23.70 (43.49, 40.21) performance
- Sophomore Aidan Wolfinger (Bedford, N.H.) placed 22nd (1:26.84, 43.97 – 42.87)
- Sophomore Liam Strobeck (Charlotte, Vt.) posted the sixth-fastest time (40.26) on the first run but did not finish the second stint
SJC MEN – GIANT SLALOM:
- Strobeck placed third with a 1:41.62 (48.55, 53.07) time and notched the second-fastest effort on the first run
- Morris finished 30th with a 1:52.06 (54.98, 57.08) performance
- Wolfinger was 31st (1:52.16, 54.28 – 57.88)
- Sophomore Caleb Gorton (Goffstown, N.H.) posted a 57.79 time on the first run but did not finish the second trip
SJC MEN – OVERALL:
- 15th, Morris – 214.02 race points
- 17th, Wolfinger – 245.52 race points
- 30th, Strobeck – 1,015.16 race points
- 63rd(T), Gorton – 1,980 race points
SJC WOMEN – SLALOM:
- Sophomore Courtney Pingree (Marblehead, Mass.) placed eighth with a 1:28.04 (44.60, 43.44) time
- Sophomore Maeghan Perkins (Turner, Maine) was 31st (1:39.08, 50.93 – 48.15)
- Sophomore Erica Irvin (Windham, N.H.) finished 33rd (1:39.56, 50.28 – 49.28)
SJC WOMEN – GIANT SLALOM:
- Pingree finished 17th with a 1:53.57 (55.02, 58.55) time
- Freshman Madelyn Zordan (New Hartford, Conn.) placed 19th with a 1:56.62 (57.34, 59.28) effort
- Irvin was 25th with a 1:59.76 (57.92, 1:01.84) performance
- Perkins placed 31st (2:04.61, 1:00.92 – 1:03.69)
- Freshman Lillian Souweine (Bangor, Maine) was 38th (2:17.22, 1:04.50 – 1:12.72)
SJC WOMEN - OVERALL:
- 16th, Pingree – 141.63 race points
- 23rd, Irvin – 303.54 race points
- 24th, Perkins – 346.46
- 39th, Zordan – 1,113.87 race points
- 54th, Souweine – 1,314.16 race points
- 67th(T), Hotchkiss – 1,980 race points
