By: Emma Logan

Featured Image: Male racer competing in the USCSA race. Credit: Tom Martin @tommartinsportsphotos

The USCSA teams are working through their qualifying season and week 3 of Alpine races brought excitement all across the country. Week 3 coverage includes races that happened Jan. 26-28. Access to full results can be found on https://www.uscsa.org

Allegheny Conference

The Allegheny Conference completed its first two giant slalom races of the season, taking place on Saturday and Sunday at Swain Resort in New York.
Noah Richert from Messiah University led the men’s field by almost two seconds in Saturday’s race. Caleb Richert followed in second, and Pennsylvania State University’s Blake Baughman clinched onto third. Penn State held seven out of the top 10 spots, taking the team title for the day over Messiah University.

On Sunday, Noah Richert earned a back-to-back victory after having the two fastest times of the day, leading the competition by almost four seconds. Gregory Morris of Carnegie Mellon University achieved 2nd place, and Eric Mole of Penn State completed the podium. For the second day in a row, Penn State took the men’s team competition by storm with another top seven spots, earning them the team title.

Faith Richert of Messiah University led the women’s field by almost three seconds after having the two fastest times in Saturday’s competition. Penn State’s Lea Zmurko and Zoe Parizek took second and third. It led to the Penn State women’s team commanding team victory, leading the second-place team, West Virginia University, by over 13 seconds.

A similar podium emerged in Sunday’s competition; Richert achieved 1st place, Parizek 2nd place, and Zmurko 3rd. Penn State led the team competition with a combined time of over 35 seconds ahead of Carnegie Mellon University in second place.

Atlantic Highlands Conference

The Atlantic Highlands Conference competed for its fifth and sixth race of the season with a slalom race on Saturday and a giant slalom race on Sunday at Belleayre Mountain in New York.

Aaron Martin from Lehigh University led the men’s slalom race with the two fastest runs of the day. Closely behind in second was Douglas Phillips from the University of Pennsylvania and Charlie Steele from Lafayette College in third. Martin led the Lehigh men’s team to the team win.

In Sunday’s giant slalom competition, results are based on a one-run race, and James Lahrman from the United States Military Academy led the field. Martin trailed close behind, ending in second, and Sebastian Bjorkeson from Lafayette College in third. Lehigh’s men’s team won the one-run battle for the team competition just ahead of Lafayette College and Fairfield University.

On the women’s side, Saturday’s slalom race came down to 0.14 seconds between first and second. Macie Marinich of the United States Military Academy came out on top, just ahead of Lexi Roberts of Fairfield. Lindsay Correll of Lafayette finished closely behind in third. Roberts led the women’s team to the team victory, with six of the top-ten spots.

Correll dominated the one-run giant slalom competition, with Claudia Liu from the University of Pennsylvania securing second place and Sloane Goldberg from Columbia University claiming third. The Fairfield women’s team came out on top for the second day in a row, finishing just ahead of Columbia.

Eastern Conference

MacConnell Division

The MacConnell Division held a slalom night on Friday at Berkshire East in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, the planned giant slalom race on Saturday had to be canceled.

Lorenzo Mencaccini from Vermont State University Castleton had the fastest combined time of the day, leading his teammate Raphael Fischer by 0.20 seconds. Sam Hayden from Clarkson University finished in third place. Mencaccini guided the team to triumph as eight VTSU Castleton athletes secured positions within the top 10.

On the women’s side, Emilie Marie Stene of VTSU Castleton led the field ahead of two of her teammates. Ginevra Trevisan finished in second, and Hannah Goetz finished in third. These three led VTSU Castleton to the team title.

Despite VTSU Castleton leading both team competitions this weekend, Babson College leads in the team rankings after five races.

McBrine Division

The McBrine Division completed one slalom race for the men on Saturday and one giant slalom race for the women on Sunday held at Magic Mountain in Vermont.

Chase Muller of Marist College led the men’s field with the two fastest runs of the day ahead of Eli Seaver of Wesleyan University and Parker O’Sullivan of the United States Coast Guard Academy. Muller led two of his teammates to top-10 finishes and ended in the team victory for Marist.

Ava Symons of Wesleyan led the women’s field by 0.03 seconds ahead of Ana Erb from the University of Rhode Island who finished in second. Ursula Vlases of USCG finished in third. Symons led the Wesleyan women’s team to a victory over Marist by 0.09 seconds for the top three combined times.

Reynolds Division

The Reynolds Division held two giant slalom races at Pleasant Mountain in Maine on Friday and Saturday

William Strobeck from St. Joseph’s College of Maine led the men’s field in Friday’s race. Colgan O’Keefe and Chase Raven of the University of Maine at Farmington placed second and third. O’Keefe led the men’s team to a 0.02 combined time team victory over St. Joseph’s College of Maine.

The men from the University of Maine at Farmington took over the podium on Saturday. Jacob Roy led the field, followed by Sam Roy and Lake Lindelof. The University of Maine at Farmington finished over two seconds ahead of St. Joseph’s College of Maine in the team competition.

In the women’s race on Friday, Elanore Robb of the University of Maine at Farmington led the field. She finished ahead of Madelyn Zordan who achieved second, and Courtney Pingree in third, both from St. Joseph’s College of Maine. The University of Maine at Farmington had a successful day with a first, fourth, and fifth, which led to a team victory.

Robb stood atop the podium two days in a row, after placing first in Saturday’s race. Gabrielle Henry of Colby College finished in second place and Pingree finished in third. Robb led the The University of Maine at Farmington women’s team to first place again.

Thompson Division

The Thompson Division hosted two slalom races on Saturday and Sunday at Whaleback Ski Area in New Hampshire. Both Saturday and Sunday included a one-run race.

Colton Sankey of Dartmouth College led the men’s field ahead of Gregoire Brougher of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in second place and Ryan Turnbull of GT in third place. Sankey led the men’s team to victory in the men’s team competition.

On Sunday, Brougher finished in first place ahead of Sankey in second and Miles Rucker of Northeastern University in third. Brougher led the Worcester Polytechnic Institute men’s team to first in the team competition.

Haley Kutzer of Northeastern University led the women’s field ahead of Julia Waal from the University of Vermont and Annie Hendrickson from Connecticut College. Kutzer led the Northeastern University women’s team to a first-place finish over the University of Vermont.

On Sunday, Hendrickson led the field ahead of Waal in second and Sarah Turner of Boston University. Waal led the University of Vermont women’s team to a team victory over Boston University.

Mideast Conference

The Mideast Conference held a giant slalom race on Saturday and a slalom race on Sunday at West Mountain in New York. In the men’s giant slalom race, Antoine Marc of Cornell University finished in first place followed by Isaac Foster from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in second and Cole Sachs of Colgate University in third. Syracuse University ended up in first place in the men’s team competition.

Sunday’s slalom race was a battle of one run. Foster led the field ahead of Marc in second place and Richard Casey of Colgate in third place. The Colgate men’s team had the fastest combined team time in Sunday’s race.

On the women’s side, Maggie Sullivan of Syracuse University led the giant slalom field with the fastest combined time of the day. Charlotte Croft of Hamilton College finished in second and Julia Bragg of Hobart and William Smith Colleges finished in third 0.05 seconds behind Croft. Syracuse women’s team finished just ahead of Colgate to lead the women’s team competition.

In Sunday’s one run slalom, Kate Goodrich of Colgate led the field. Maggie Sullivan of Syracuse University finished in second and Kate Broderick of Hobart and William Smith Colleges finished in third. Colgate University finished in first place in the women’s team competition.

Midwest Conference

Lake Superior and Chicago Division: The Lake Superior and Chicago Division hosted a giant slalom race on Saturday and a slalom race on Sunday at Spirit Mountain in Minnesota.

On Saturday, Northern Michigan University completed the sweep led by Bradley Seaborg in first, Aaron Grzelak in second, and Andrew Truman in third. NMU led the team competition ahead of the University of Wisconsin Madison.

On Sunday, Grzelak led the field ahead of Seaborg in second and Tanner Bence of the University of Wisconsin Madison in third. The Northern Michigan men’s team ended in first place in the team results.

Tommie Jo Springer of Northern Michigan University led the field in the women’s giant slalom. Her teammates Reagan Olli and Madalyn Stern finished in second and third. Northern Michigan University women’s team finished in all top-10 spots in the giant slalom race dominating the team competition.

On Sunday, Olli led the field with the fastest combined time of the day. Ella Wichert followed in second, and Ainsley Kirk finished in 3rd place. All top-5 finishers were from Northern Michigan University.

Michigan and Ohio Division

The Michigan and Ohio Division held a slalom race on Saturday and a giant slalom race on Sunday at Otsego Club in Michigan.

Wyatt Mattson from the University of Michigan led the men’s field in slalom, followed by his teammates Benjamin Aulicino in second place and Nolan Walkerdine from Michigan State University in third.

Walkerdine led his men’s team to a 1st-place finish in the team competition with six finishes in the top 10.

In giant slalom, Walkerdine led the field with the fastest combined time of the day, Mattson achieved second and Aulicino in third. Michigan State University finished 0.08 seconds ahead of the University of Michigan, leading to the team victory.

Lauren Carlson of the University of Michigan led two of her teammates to a podium sweep for the team. Anna Grzelak followed in second place, and Kristen Gresla finished in third. The University of Michigan finished first over Michigan State in the team competition.

On Sunday, Grzelak led the field ahead of Carlson and Remington Robel of Michigan State University. For the second day in a row the Michigan State University women’s team came out on top.

NorCal Conference

The Northern California Conference hosted a giant slalom race on Saturday and a slalom race on Sunday at China Peak in California.

The Stanford men’s team took every spot 1 through 10 in the giant slalom race. Thomas Hatcher earned 1st place with the two fastest times of the day. WIlliam Sayler placed second, and Parthiv Krishna placed third.

On Sunday, the race included a one-run slalom, and only eight competitors finished. William Sayler led his teammates Thomas Hatcher and Aidan Burke.

Northwest Conference

The Northwest Conference hosted two giant slalom races on Saturday and Sunday at Silver Mountain in Idaho.

On Saturday, Demitri Panos of the University of Idaho led the field with the two fastest times. Carson Parco followed in second place and Benjamin Troyer in third place, both of the College of Idaho. The University of Idaho finished just over half a second ahead of the College of Idaho in the team competition.

On Sunday, Panos finished in first again with a combined time over three seconds faster than Parco in second. Patrick Du of the University of Idaho finished in third, leading to another team title for Idaho.

On the women’s side, Taylor Watkins of the College of Idaho finished first with the two fastest runs of the day. Caroline Robertson of the University of British Columbia finished in second, and Madeline Lafreniere from Oregon State University finished in third. The College of Idaho finished first for the team combined time.

Watkins led the field again with an identical podium in Sunday’s race. It led to another College of Idaho women’s team victory.

Rocky Mountain Conference

The Rocky Mountain Conference held three giant slalom races at Purgatory in Colorado. There was a race scheduled for Saturday and another on Sunday, along with an additional make-up race consisting of a single run.

Tucker Schultz of Western Colorado University led the men’s field in Saturday’s race with the two fastest times. Sean Bodnar of the University of Colorado Boulder placed second, and John Olson of the United States Air Force Academy placed third. The University of Colorado Boulder placed first in the team competition.

In Sunday’s first race, Shultz led the field again. John Olson placed second, and Joseph Olson of the United States Air Force Academy placed third. It led to the Air Force Academy leading the University of Colorado Boulder in the team combined time.

In Sunday’s one-run race, Declan Picot led the field ahead of Bodnar in second and Karl Gaertner of Colorado State University. The Air Force Academy came out on top for the team results in the one-run race, leading the University of Colorado Boulder by 0.20 seconds.

On the women’s side, Katie Bervey of Colorado State led Saturday’s giant slalom race with the two fastest times. Sydney Kraabel took second, and Jenna Blatchford took third, both from the University of Colorado Boulder. It led to the University of Colorado Boulder placing first in the team competition.

Bervy placed first by 0.18 seconds in the one-run make-up race, leading Skylar Adelman and Sydney Kraabel from the University of Colorado Boulder.

In Sunday’s race, Bervy held the 1st-place position again, with the two fastest times. Blatchford followed in second place, with Kraabel in third place. The University of Colorado Boulder placed first in the team competition.

About USCSA

USCSA is the sports federation for collegiate team ski and snowboard competitions in America. The organization believes that student-athletes of all levels and abilities should have access to quality and exciting venues for competition. Our athletes agree that our team orientation fosters a collaborative approach across their collegiate athletic and academic careers, and often the mentality gained proves indispensable in their adult lives and careers. USCSA includes over 175 institutions from coast to coast, fielding over 5,000 female and male alpine, freestyle, nordic, and snowboarding athletes who participate
in more than 300 events annually.

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