Harvard Skiing Places Eighth at Vermont Carnival

While most of New England prepared to snuggle in to watch the Super Bowl and Bad Bunny’s halftime performance over the weekend, the Harvard skiing teams braved the cold and trekked to Vermont. Combined, the Alpine and Nordic teams placed eighth out of fourteen, notching a total of 323 points.

Leading the way was the University of Vermont (846), followed by Dartmouth (797.5), and with Middlebury (795), trailing closely behind.

At Stowe Mountain, the Alpine teams kicked off competition with the giant slalom (GS). Sophomore Duncan Armstrong tied for fourth place, totalling 2:04.4 across his two runs. Freshman Tristan Leightell finished 35th to round out scoring for the Crimson. On the second day in the men’s slalom, senior Luke Kearing finished in 16th, marking the only top-30 finish on the day.

In the women’s Alpine events, sophomore Skylar Sheppard came in 14th place, the only member of the team to qualify for the second run. On day two in the slalom, only junior Emma Speiser qualified for the second run, finishing in 31st place.

On day one of Nordic competition at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, sophomore Elias Soule, freshman Braden Bellizzi, and sophomore Bennett Hutchison placed 40th, 45th, and 52nd, respectively, in the sprint, earning the team a combined 28 EISA points. On day two in the 10-kilometer, Hutchison improved to 19th, while no other Crimson skier placed in the top 50.

On the women’s side of the Nordic meet, junior Meredith Schwartz placed seventh in the sprint, followed closely behind by fellow junior Clara Lake in 15th. In the 10-kilometer, junior Breagh Bridge led the way for the Crimson with a 36th-place finish. Schwartz rounded out the top 40 with a time of just over 33 minutes.

The teams both return to action this weekend at the Williams Carnival. The Alpine squad will head to Hancock, Mass., at Jiminy Peak while the Nordic crew will cross state lines to Prospect Mountain in Woodford, V.T.

– Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at [email protected]