Middlebury Winter Carnival

Harvard's ski team finished eighth in a field of eight at the Annual Middlebury, Vt., Winter Carnival. Sophomore Ben Steele, however, placed second in the overall individual standings.

In the slalom, Steele finished second, less than half a second behind the leader. Harvard's next highest finisher was freshman Dick Raines, who placed 15th. The team placed sixth in a field of eight in this event.

Steele placed fourth in the giant slalom, pacing the team to another sixth-place finish. Harvard's next highest individual was Raines in 19th place.

In the alpine downhill, Steele was second and Raines 14th.

The team was weakest in cross country and jumping, finished seventh aneighth respectively. Lack of depth seemed to be the team's greatest weakness.

"Our problem is, we have a few good competitors, but the team is not consistent," co-captain Ken Willis said yesterday.

"We also have no jumpers," Willis added. "We were sixth until we got to the jumping, but we came in last." Willis also noted the lack of snow in the Boston area and the increase in ski promotion on the part of other colleges where there are better facilities, as reason for Harvard's competitive failures.

Another carnival at Middlebury this week along with the Saint Lawrence Carnival and the Harvard-Dartmouth slalomrace are the Crimson's remaining chances for self-redemption.