Featured Image: Northeastern women’s slalom at USCSA Regionals. Credit: Tom Martin (@tommartinsportsphotos)

By: Emma Logan

When the regular season winds down, the competition escalates as teams head to Regional Championships on a quest to qualify for the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard National ChampionshipsTM. For many, this means a whole new level of competition as new teams enter the competition. Regional competitions took place over multiple different weekends across the country. The Far West Regional Championships took place February 10-12. The Eastern and Midwest Regional Championships took place on February 17 and 18, while the Mid-Atlantic, Mideast and West Regional Championships took place on February 22-25.

Full results can be found at uscsa.org

Eastern Region 

The Eastern Region hosted a two-day event at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. Both the men and the women competed in giant slalom on Saturday, February 17th, and slalom on Sunday. 

Raphael Fischer from Vermont State University Castleton led the men’s field with the fastest combined time in the giant slalom. Following by +0.02 seconds was his teammate Lorenzo Mencaccini, who finished in second place. Ryan Beardsley from Babson College finished less than a second behind Mencaccini. Fischer and Mencaccini led the VTSU Castleton men’s team to a first-place finish, rounded out by Aksel Stroem-Hansen, who concluded the day in fourth place. 

In slalom, Samuel Hayden from Clarkson University led the field with the fastest combined time. Marin Vigneras from the University of Massachusetts closely followed, finishing in second place, and Max Bellino from Babson College finished in third place. Bellino led the Babson men’s team to a first-place finish. 

Beardsley won the individual combined, Stroem-Hansen finished second place, and Vegneras finished third. Babson won the team combined competition. 

In the women’s giant slalom, Petra Veljkovic from VTSU Castleton finished in first place. Her teammate Emilie Stene finished in second, 0.25 seconds behind Veljkovic. Elyse Donaghue from Clarkson finished in third place. Veljkovic and Stene led the VTSU Castleton women’s team to a first-place finish. 

Stene led the field and a VTSU Castleton podium sweep in Sunday’s slalom competition. Ginevra Trevisan finished closely behind in second place, and Petra Veljkovic finished in third place. These three led the team to a first-place finish.

After a successful weekend on the podium, Stene placed first in the individual combined, making her the fastest female of the weekend, and led the VTSU Castleton women’s team to a first-place finish in the team combined. 

Far West Region 

The Far West Region hosted a two-day event at China Peak in California. Both the men and women competed in the giant slalom on Saturday, February 10th, and slalom on Sunday the 11th. 

The men’s giant slalom race was led by Jacob Kuczynski from the University of California Berkeley, finishing almost two seconds ahead of the competition. Finn Nock from the University of California Davis finished in second place, and William Sayler from Stanford University finished in third place. Sayler led the Stanford men’s team to a first-place finish in the team competition by 0.23 seconds ahead of The Claremont Colleges. 

Thomas Hatcher from Stanford led the men’s slalom competition with the fastest combined time. Shane Cole from the University of Southern California finished in second place, and Sayler followed closely behind to finish in third place. Hatcher and Sayler led the men’s team to their second team victory of the weekend. 

Sierra Kim from the University of California Berkeley led the women’s giant slalom competition with the two fastest runs of the day. Kacey Benjaminson from San Diego State University finished in second place, and Jordan Flood from the University of California San Diego finished in third place. The University of California Davis women’s team finished with the fastest team time, led by Maya Hsu, who finished in fourth place. 

Benjaminson and Kim swapped places in Sunday’s slalom race. 

Benjaminson stood atop the podium, finishing first place, and Kim finished second. Gemma Hill from the University of California Los Angeles finished in third place. For the second day in a row, the University of California Davis had the fastest team time, led by Hsu, who finished in fifth place.

Mid-Atlantic Region

The Mid-Atlantic Region hosted a two-day event at Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania. Both the men and women competed in a giant slalom race on Friday, February 23rd, and a slalom race on Saturday the 24th. 

Derin Berkin from the Georgia Institute of Technology led the men’s giant slalom race by almost two seconds combined after having the two fastest runs of the day. James Lahrman from the United States Military Academy finished in second place, and Douglas Phillips from the University of Pennsylvania finished in third place. Pennsylvania State University had the fastest team time, led by Eric Mole, who finished in eighth place.

For the second day in a row, Berkin had the fastest combined time, finishing 0.09 seconds ahead of Aaron Martin from Lehigh University in second place. Noah Richert from Messiah University finished in third place. Martin led the Lehigh men’s team to a first-place finish in the team competition. 

Logan Lindstrom from the University of Virginia led the women’s giant slalom competition with the fastest combined time. Faith Richert from Messiah University finished in second place, and Abi Masillo from Lehigh University finished in third place. Pennsylvania State University had the fastest team time, led by Zoe Parizek, who finished in fourth place. 

In Saturday’s slalom race, the podium looked exactly the same. Lindstromg finished in the first place, Richert in second place, and Masillo finished in third place. Georgetown University had the fastest team time, led by Megan Ryan, who finished in fourth place. 

Mideast Region

The Mideast Region hosted a day two event at Bristol Mountain in New York. Both the men and women competed in a giant slalom race on Saturday, February 24th, and a slalom race on Sunday 25th. 

Cole Sachs from Colgate University led the men’s giant slalom with the fastest combined time of the day. Ethan Hine from Hobart and William Smith Colleges finished in second place, and Richard Casey from Colgate finished in third place. Sachs led the Colgate men’s team to first place in the team competition, finishing just under three seconds ahead of the second-place team, Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges. 

Hine ended up on top of the podium in Sunday’s slalom race with the fastest combined time. Casey finished in second place, and Leo Davies from Cornell University finished in third place. Casey led the Colgate team to another team victory. 

Kate Goodrich from Colgate University led the women’s field by just under a second with the two fastest times in Saturday’s giant slalom race. Charlotte Croft from Hamilton College finished in second place, and Cara Gagliardi from the University of Rochester finished in third place. Goodrich led the Colgate team to first place in the team competition by under three seconds, ahead of Hamilton College. 

Kate Goodrich repeated her success in Sunday’s slalom race with the two fastest runs of the day for the consecutive day. Eliza Hodgkins of Cornell University finished second place, and Kate Broderick of Hobart and William Smith Colleges finished third. The Colgate women’s team had the fastest team time for the second day in a row. 

Midwest Region

The Midwest Region hosted a two-day event at Marquette Mountain in Michigan. Both the men and women competed in slalom on Saturday, February 17th, and giant slalom on the 18th. 

Northern Michigan University had the upper hand in Saturday’s slalom competition with a podium sweep. Aaron Grzelak led the competition by over a second, ahead of Bradley Seaborg and Reed Heathman, who rounded the podium. 

In Sunday’s slalom competition, Ethan Ross from St. Olaf College led the competition by 0.01 seconds combined. Heathman finished second place, and Graham Barwick from St. Olaf College finished third. Northern Michigan University had the fastest team time by under two seconds. 

Ella Wichert from Northern Michigan University had the fastest two runs of the day, leading the rest of the field by 0.46 seconds. Her teammate Reagan Olli followed closely to finish in second place, and Emma Wolf from the University of Minnesota Duluth finished in third. Wichert led the Northern Michigan University women’s team to the fastest combined time. 

In Sunday’s giant slalom race, Northern Michigan University swept the podium. Tommie Jo Springer led the field with the two fastest runs. Olli finished in second place, and Ainsley Kirk finished in third. For the second consecutive day, the Northern Michigan University women’s team finished in first place. 

Western Region

The Western Region hosted a three-day event at Red Lodge Mountain in Montana. The women competed in giant slalom on Thursday, February 22nd, and slalom on the 24th. The men competed in giant slalom on Friday, February 23rd, and slalom on the 24th. 

Rocky Mountain College dominated the men’s field on Friday in the giant slalom. William Mjelde had the two fastest runs of the day and finished almost two seconds ahead of his teammate in second place. Fredrik August Straume finished second place, and Erik Gusten Berglund finished third. Rocky Mountain College had six finishers in the top 10. 

Straume stood atop the podium in Saturday’s slalom race, almost two seconds ahead of second place. Zach Bion finished in second place, and Mads Fondevik Syversen finished in third place, both from Rocky Mountain College. The Rocky Mountain College men’s team won for a consecutive day and had seven finishers in the top 10. 

On the women’s side, Rocky Mountain College also swept the podium in giant slalom. Hilde Sato led the field with the fastest combined time, leading the competition by 0.16 seconds. Bergitte Varne finished second place, and Synne Gaustad Kvinlog finished third.

In Saturday’s slalom race, the podium looked similar but in a different order. Kvinlog had the fastest combined time, over a second ahead of Sato in second place. Varne finished in third place and rounded out the podium. The Rocky Mountain College women’s team finished over 25 seconds ahead of the University of Colorado Boulder, who finished in second place. 

USCSA National Championships

The 2024 USCSA National Championships kick off on Monday, March 4th, in Lake Placid, New York. The alpine events start on Tuesday with women’s giant slalom, and the men start the day after in the same event. 

Visit uscsa.org for the full schedule and results. 

About USCSA

The USCSA is the sports federation for collegiate team ski and snowboard competitions in America. The USCSA believes that student-athletes of all levels and abilities should have access to quality and exciting competition venues. USCSA athletes agree that our team orientation fosters a collaborative approach across their collegiate athletic and academic careers, and often, mentality proves indispensable in their adult lives and careers. The organization includes 213 institutions from coast to coast, fielding 4,765 alpine, freestyle, nordic, and snowboarding athletes in over 300 events annually. 

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact jmoyer@uscsa.org