Nordic Leads Crimson, Sheils Has Two Top 25 Finishes

Pictured: Audrey Mangan in action this weekend at Saint Michael's (Chris City).

COLCHESTER, Vt. – In the second EISA ski weekend of the season Harvard finished ninth out of 12 participating schools at the Saint Michael’s Carnival. The Crimson’s women Nordic team again led the charge with an impressive fifth place finish in the classic sprint relay on Saturday with Audrey Mangan, Esther Kennedy and Cara Sprague teaming up.

Dartmouth and Vermont finished first and second while New Hampshire, Middlebury and Williams rounded out the top five overall.

The women’s Nordic sprint was an unusual format with each team having three racers who went 1 km before tagging off for the next leg – much like a track & field event, except each racer was tagged in three different times. Most teams entered an A and a B relay team. The first time for the first leg was longer than the other two, requiring strategy as to who led off each race.

Harvard stood in 11th place after the first leg of the 3X3 but consistently fast splits bolstered the Crimson as other teams started to fade on their second and third laps.

Not to be outdone, another Harvard entry of Clare Miller, Anika Petach and Alena Tofte finished ahead of two “A” teams

In a similar men’s event, the Crimson started fast but faded down the stretch in being edged out by the host Saint Michael’s team.

“The skate courses at Sleepy Hollow were very difficult with two long steep climbs, including one that was over 2km long,” said head Nordic coach Chris City. “They had had a melt last week and so the thin snow cover quickly sheared off the downhill turns, leaving them as glare ice. These conditions applied to everyone, though, and I'm generally pleased with how we attacked the course.”

Harvard’s women placed ninth in the women’s freestyle which at 10 km while the men placed 11th in thr 15km free event.

On the slopes, Harvard’s women placed ninth in the giant slalom and slalom while the men placed 10th in the GS and slalom.

In the women’s GS, Catherine Sheils turned in an impressive outing at 21st overall after qualifying in 51st position. Megan Luck also finished above her bib number with a 27th place finish from a 35th place start. Sheils was even better in the slalom event, finishing in 17th place from a 27th place start while Margie Thorpe halved her start time, finishing in 31st overall.

Chris Kinner led the men in the GS with a 35th place finish, moving up five spots while Alex Boardmen stormed back from a 70th place start in the slalom to finish 35th.