By: Emma Logan

Featured Image: Female racer competing at a McConnell Division race on January 12th. Credit: Tom Martin

Eastern Conference 

The MacConnell Division completed two giant slalom races at Whiteface Mountain in New York.

Friday’s race, was headlined by Castleton University taking the top two spots in the combined results. Askel Marinius Stroem-Hansen won, with Lorenzo Mencaccini following only 0.03 seconds behind. Marin Vugneras of the University of Massachusetts finished closely behind in third to round out the top three.

The Castleton men completed a podium sweep on Saturday, led by Filippo Collini and closely followed by Lorenzo Mencaccini and Raphael Fisher. The Castleton men finished in all top seven spots, leading them to another team victory.

On Friday, Emilie Stene Reinert from Castleton achieved victory for the women by 0.02 seconds ahead of Lola Ribe Mozun of Saint Michael’s College and Karleigh Hollister of Castleton. The Castleton women’s team won the team competition ahead of Babson.

Reinert and Ribe Mozun continued their streak, occupying first and second place in the race on Saturday. The third-place finish went to Caroline Haaijer of Babson. Babson ended up with the upper hand on the day, claiming the team victory.

After two weekends of competition, Castleton men’s team led the team, standings ahead of Babson and Clarkson. On the women’s side, Babson leads the team combined standings ahead of Castleton and University of Connecticut.

The Reynolds Division completed two separate races in the men’s division on Saturday at Sunday River in Maine. University of Maine Farmington swept the podium in the first race. Led by Jacob Roy and followed by Lake Lindelof and Sam Roy.

In the second race, the men’s team at the St. Joseph’s College of Maine led the team competition, with William Strobeck posting the fastest combined time. Finishing in second was Daniel Steber and Jacob Morris finished closely behind in third.

On the women’s side, they completed two races over two days. On Saturday, Elanore Robb from the University of Maine Farmington had the two fastest runs of the day, leading to a victory over Madelyn Zordan and Courtney Pingree from St. Joseph’s College of Maine. In the team competition, SJCM finished just over a second ahead of University of Maine Farmington.

On Sunday, Parker Crawford of CSC put up the two fastest runs of the day, leading to the victory of Robb and Zordan. St. Joseph’s College of Maine continued to dominate the team competition with the fastest team time.

Allegheny Conference

During the Allegheny Conference season opener, a busy two-day period was dedicated to organizing a series of four slalom races at Elk Mountain in Pennsylvania.

The first two races included two combined runs. Faith Richert finished first place in all four races over the weekend. In race 1 and 2, Brenna Slomsky from Carnegie Mellon University finished in second place. In race 1, Caroline Mole from Pennsylvania State University finished in third, while Quinn Albright from American University finished in third in race 2. Race 3 and 4 concluded after one run, and the podium was Richert, Albright, and Slomsky.

The men’s race followed the same format, with four total races, which included six runs. Noah Richert from Messiah University finished first place in races 1, 2 and 3. Sean Seungjoo Lee from Carnegie Mellon University finished second place in race 2. Caleb Richert from Messiah University finished first in the one-run during race 3. In second place, Noah Richert trailed by 0.03 seconds, and Lee finished in third. In race 4, Lee stood atop the podium ahead of Caleb Richert and Bryce Gonder of Pennsylvania State University.

Atlantic Highlands Conference

The Atlantic Highlands Conference completed a giant slalom race on Saturday at Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania.

The men were led by James Lahrman from the United States Military Academy. Less than half a second behind, Aaron Martin from Lehigh University finished in second, followed by Douglas Phillips from the University of Pennsylvania. Lehigh University men’s team finished first for the teams in the competition, and less than a second separated the first and third-place teams.

For the women, Abi Masillo from Lehigh had the fastest combined time, followed closely by Erika Wiebe and Kalena Medeiros of Fairfield University. In the giant slalom race, Fairfield finished first in the team competition. The women also completed a slalom race on Sunday. Wiebe led the field with the fastest combined time. Masillo followed in second, while Lexi Roberts of Fairfield finished in third. The Fairfield women’s team had the fastest combined team time.

Grand Teton Conference and Northwest Conference

At the Grand Teton Conference, Rocky Mountain College led the field in the men’s and women’s races. In race 1, William Mjedle led in first, followed by Fredrik August Straume in second and Adam Wrenkler in third. Hidle Sato led the women’s field ahead of Bergitte Varne and Synne Gaustad Kvinlog. In race 2, Straume finished first, followed by Wrenkler and Tj Weaver from the University of Utah, who finished in third. Sato finished first in Sunday’s race, followed by Kvinlog and Varne.

Additionally, the Northwest Conference hosted two giant slalom races on Saturday and Sunday at Brundage Mountain Resort in Idaho. Each race consisted of one run.

Patrick Du from the University of Idaho finished first, followed by Carson Parco and Benjamin Troyer from the College of Idaho on Saturday. The College of Idaho finished first in the team results on day 1, while the University of Idaho men’s team finished first on day 2. In Sunday’s race, Demitri Panos from the University of Idaho finished first, while Parco and Troyer finished second and third.

On Saturday and Sunday, Taylor Watkins of the College of Idaho achieved first place and Cailin Gahan from the University of Oregon finished in second. On Saturday, Caitlin Bumpers from the College of Idaho placed third, while Madeline Lafreniere from Oregon State University placed third on Sunday. The College of Idaho women’s team secured the fastest combined time for both days.

Mideast Conference

The Mideast Conference held two races on the season-opening weekend, one slalom race on Saturday and another slalom on Sunday, at Greek Peak Mountain Resort in New York.

In Saturday’s competition, Antoine Marc from Cornell University achieved the fastest combined time. Less than half a second behind, Isaac Foster from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute came in second. Charles Snyder from Colgate University placed third. The Colgate Men’s team had the fastest combined team time.

In Sunday’s slalom race, Foster had the two fastest runs of the day, putting himself comfortably in first place. Richard Casey from Colgate placed second, and Snyder placed third. The Colgate men’s team placed first in the team competition again.

On the women’s side, Kate Goodrich of Colgate University led the field ahead of Maggie Sullivan of Syracuse University and Cara Gagliardi of the University of Rochester in a giant slalom. Colgate University led the women’s team competition ahead of Syracuse University in second place and Cornell University in third.

On Sunday, Eliza Hodgkins of Cornell led the field after having the two fastest times. Gagliardi placed second, and Charlotte Osgood of Hamilton College placed third. In the team competition, Colgate University women’s team had the fastest team combined time.

NorCal Conference

After the first weekend of canceled races, the NoCal Conference held one slalom and one giant slalom race on Sunday at Sierra-at-Tahoe. Finn Nock from UCD achieved the top of the podium, followed by William Sayler and Amando Shrestha of Stanford. The Stanford men’s team had the fastest combined time.

In the giant slalom competition, Jacob Kuczynski of UCB led the field 0.20 seconds ahead of Nock, and Sayler finished in third. UCD had the fastest combined over Stanford in the men’s team competition.

In the women’s slalom competition, Maya Hsu of UCD led the field almost six seconds ahead of Sierra Kim and Elizabeth Gammariello of UCB. The Stanford women’s team led the team competition.

In slalom, Kim led the field with the two fastest times of the day. Hsu finished in second, and Gammariello finished in third. As a team, the Stanford women had the fastest time.

Midwest Conference

The Lake Superior and Chicago divisions held a giant slalom race on Saturday and a slalom race on Sunday at Giants Ridge in Minnesota.
Bradley Seaborg of Northern Michigan University led the men’s GS field. Closely behind in second was Ethan Ross from St. Olaf College, and Andrew Truman from Northern Michigan took third. In the race Sunday Aaron Grzelak from Northern Michigan had the fastest combined time, followed by Ross in second and Reed Heathman from Northern Michigan in third. NMU finished first in the men’s team competition.

Tommie Jo Springer from NMU won the women’s giant slalom race. Less than 0.20 seconds behind, Kate Young of St. Olaf placed second. Ella Wichert of NMU placed third. Northern Michigan University led the team competition with the fastest combined time.

In Sunday’s slalom race, NMU took the top three positions, with Reagan Olli leading the field with the two fastest times of the day. Wichert placed second, followed by Springer in third place.

About USCSA

USCSA is the 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, mentality 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 participating in more than 300 events annually.