Alpine Skiing Produces Two NCAA Qualifiers at Middlebury Carnival

Hoping to qualify for the NCAA Championships, Harvard’s alpine skiing team had its last races this past weekend at the Middlebury Carnival. The Crimson produced strong results this weekend, so for the first time in over a decade, the program will send two athletes, captain Luke Kearing and sophomore Duncan Armstrong, to the NCAA Championships.

“I’m still pinching myself here,” Head Coach Scott MacPherson said. “Everything that needed to happen, happened.”

Giant Slalom, Friday

The Crimson started off the weekend with some notable finishes as Armstrong clinched second place in the men’s giant slalom, his collegiate-best finish. With this record-breaking run of 1:56.79, the sophomore was able to garner 47 EISA points and 80 NCAA points and will return to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year.

“It was just amazing how it went down just to watch him come into the weekend, confident, prepared in his training. It was like out of a movie. He just did what he needed to do. He got it done. It was amazing,” Coach MacPherson shared.

Kearing, meanwhile, was able to nab a spot at 14th place with a time of 1:57.78. Thanks to this impressive finish, the captain grabbed 27 EISA points and 14 NCAA points in his final EISA carnival. Following Kearing, freshman Tristan Leightell crossed the line at 1:59.37, claiming 28th place as well as 14 EISA points and three NCAA points.

Sophomore Skylar Sheppard was able to set the best time for the women, coming in 29th. With her time of 2:05:18, Sheppard clinched 18 EISA points and two NCAA points.

“We had a strong performance on the ladies’ side from sophomore Skylar Sheppard, who’s been returning from a serious injury this year,” said MacPherson. Sheppard, whose freshman campaign was cut short due to a season-ending injury, returned to the slopes this winter after four surgeries.

Freshman Caroline Collins also was able to secure five EISA points for Harvard with her 52nd-place finish and a time of 2:09.81.

Slalom, Saturday

Kearing raced his way to fifth place on Saturday with a time of 1:40.28, scoring 39 EISA and 45 NCAA points for the Crimson in the slalom.

“We had our graduating senior captain, Luke Kearing, who’s just been a superb athlete for us, finish his senior regular season with his two best races of his career,” MacPherson said. “He moved from pretty far out in qualifying to the last qualifying spot to go to the NCAA championship.”

Building off his success from Friday, Armstrong crossed the slalom finish line at 1:41.16, earning him 20th place as well as 23 EISA points and 11 NCAA points. Junior Josh Rosenberg came in 42nd place, tacking on 10 EISA points with a time of 1:47.39.

On the women’s side, Sheppard once again had the best results, securing 18th place in the slalom with a time of 1:40.78, earning her 25 EISA points and 13 NCAA points. Junior Emma Spieser came in 52nd place with a time of 1:46.16, garnering five EISA points.

On Sheppard’s performance, MacPherson said, “She just missed qualifying for the NCAA championships by one spot, which was heartbreaking, but as a team, we’re super proud of her and all the work she put in this year and the adversity that she’s overcome.”

The team’s attention now turns towards March 11, the start of the NCAA Alpine Skiing Championships hosted by the University of Utah.

“For the first time here, we have two men going,” the coach said. “These guys are both just completely dialed in right now. I’m looking forward to spending the next two weeks preparing with them for exactly what we need to do.”

—Staff writer Tiffany Oh can be reached at [email protected].