Kearing and Armstrong Conclude Alpine Ski Season at NCAA Championships

The Harvard alpine skiing team competed this past week at the 2026 NCAA Skiing Championships in Park City, Utah, as sophomore Duncan Armstrong and captain Luke Kearing hit the slopes for both the men’s giant slalom on Wednesday and the slalom on Friday, closing out the Crimson’s 2025-26 collegiate season.

The starting alpine event featured the nation’s top college skiers battling through two runs of giant slalom. Armstrong delivered Harvard’s top performance of the day, finishing 25th overall with a total time of 1:58.49. His success earned the Crimson six team points.

The sophomore, who made his second straight appearance in the NCAA Championships, clocked 59.41 seconds in his first run before slightly improving in the second with a 59.08.

The Toronto, Ont., native continued a strong sophomore campaign, having notched 10 top-30 finishes, nine top-20 showings, and four top-10 results during this EISA season. Earlier this winter, Armstrong also recorded his first collegiate podium finish, earning second place in the giant slalom at the Middlebury Carnival, which served as the NCAA Regional Championships.

Kearing made his NCAA Championships debut in his final collegiate season but did not finish the first run of the competition, ending his race early. The senior, who hails from Carrabassett Valley, Maine, qualified for nationals after a steady EISA season with six top-30 finishes and five top-20 placements and a fifth-place finish in the slalom at the Middlebury Carnival.

The event was eventually won by the University of Utah’s sophomore Johs Herland, who nabbed the title with a total time of 1:55.41, earning 40 points for the hosting Utes. University of Colorado’s freshman Feb Alassina finished second, and Middlebury’s junior Nick Unkovskoy finished third.

After the first alpine race of the championships, Colorado led the team standings with 137 points, slightly ahead of Utah’s 133. Harvard sat in 17th with six points, which came from Armstrong’s finish.

Armstrong entered the championships as the Crimson’s top giant slalom skier, ranking 11th in the EISA standings and earning a fifth-place finish at the Middlebury Carnival earlier this season. Kearing has found more success in the slalom, where he ranks 22nd in the conference and recorded an eighth-place finish at Middlebury.

Alpine competition resumed on Friday with the men’s slalom, where both Armstrong and Kearing returned to the course for the final alpine event of the season.

Armstrong recorded another strong race for the Crimson, finishing 16th overall with a total time of 1:36.18. The sophomore posted 50.63 seconds in the first run of the day before improving to 45.55 seconds in the second run, adding seven points to Harvard’s team total.

"It was a great race out there today,” Armstrong said. “There were fun spring conditions on an awesome hill, and I was happy to be there on Luke’s last college race. I'm happy with how the day went and looking forward to building on it next year."

The event was won by Dartmouth’s senior Oscar Zimmer, who got the slalom title with a total time of 1:33.77, earning 40 points for the Big Green. Middlebury’s freshman Julian Arthur finished second, while the University of Utah’s sophomore Johs Herland, who won the giant slalom two days ago, got third.

After the alpine events, the Crimson sat 16th overall with 32 points, helped by Armstrong's 15-point finish in the slalom, his six points from the giant slalom, and Kearing’s seven points in the slalom.

— Staff Writer Tamar H. Sheinfeld can be reached at [email protected].