The women's skiing team has qualified for the USCSA National Championships after finishing in first place in the giant slalom last weekend at the USCSA Eastern Regional Championships. With their time of 6:25.89, the Bears wound up on top for the third straight week.
Even though three Brown skiers fell, the Bears still managed to come in fifth in the slalom with a team time of 5:09.99. Brown finished the weekend third overall, behind MacConnell Division rivals University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Boston College.
After leading the Bears to the top spot in the MacConnell Division in the regular season and finishing the season last week with her first win of the season in the slalom, Kelly O'Hear '07 led the Bears with a second-place finish in the giant slalom. Her combined two-run time of 1:25.29 left her just 0.62 seconds out of first.
"She skied really well, was solid and was for sure the leader of the team," said co-captain Hilary Swaffield '06.
Swaffield and Sophie Elgort '08 showed that the Bears continue to be a threat in the giant slalom by finishing fourth and 12th, respectively.
"I was pretty consistent this weekend, but it was really stressful on Saturday because three of our top five girls fell, so I knew I had to finish the run pretty fast," Elgort said.
Still feeling the effects of a knee injury she suffered last year, Elgort was the Bears' most consistent competitor over the weekend, also finishing 10th in the slalom.
"She managed to grit her teeth and stick a couple super-solid runs in for us," said Head Coach Michael Leblanc.
"She's doing amazing, considering she's in pain half the time," Swaffield added.
At Nationals, the skiers will have to acclimatize quickly to both Idaho, where they will race at an altitude of 7,000 feet, and the tough competition.
"The Western kids are going to have a big advantage in that aspect," Leblanc said.
The Bears will face off against 16 other schools, including Sierra Nevada College, which features three ex-World Cup skiers.
"The top-five times coming from our region are some of the most competitive teams that are going to be there, and Sierra Nevada is the only team we need to be concerned about," Swaffield said.
Despite the hefty competition, Swaffield said it is very likely the Bears will finish in the top three.
Leblanc agreed. "There is absolutely a chance that we can do something at Nationals, but it's going to take an extreme amount of focus," he said.
Also up for grabs will be a spot on the U.S. National World Cup team, Leblanc said. The international competitors from Sierra Nevada will not be able to qualify for the spot, giving Swaffield and O'Hear, the team's top skiers, extra incentive.
Swaffield, whose sister, Whitney, qualified for the U.S. World Cup team last year while competing for Plymouth State University, said she thinks she and O'Hear have a good chance at Nationals.
"Considering that Kelly and I have been placing in the top five pretty consistently, her in both events and me especially in the giant slalom, I think that we both have a good chance of making top five at Nationals," Swaffield said.
With O'Hear's and Swaffield's outstanding performances this season, they stand a good chance to make the U.S. National world cup team, Leblanc said.
The team also features Elgort, Janet Marly-Mauzy '07, Jamie Johnson '06, Mallory Taub '08 and Meaghan Casey '08, who will ski as an alternate.
"Sophie Elgort and Janet Marley-Mauzy are both pretty important, because they have (each) been our third finisher pretty consistently," Swaffield said.
"I want to keep skiing how I have been and keep putting in some good results for the team," Elgort said.
The Bears will leave on Monday for McCall, Idaho. Competition will begin on March 9 and continue through March 12.
