Durham Finishes 2nd Overall in GS at St. Michael’s Carnival

Home › Alpine skiing ›

in
by: 
Nancie Battgalia
Rookie Ashley-Kate Durham finished in 2nd place in the Women's GS on Friday.

Jan. 22: It hasn't taken St. Lawrence University first-year student Ashley-Kate Durham long to adapt to collegiate alpine skiing.  The Timmons, ON native, who picked up a 7th place finish last weekend at the St. Lawrence Carnival, continued her outstanding start to the season by finishing in second place out of 54 skiers on Friday in the Giant Slalom at the St. Michael's Carnival at Smugglers Notch.

The runner-up finish is the first podium spot for a St. Lawrence skier in 2010 and landed Durham 47.0 points for her team and 80 towards an NCAA Championship berth.  She finished a total of .57 seconds behind Megan Ryley of UVM thanks to runs of 51.89 and 51.94 seconds.

Joining Durham in the scoring for the St. Lawrence women's alpine squad were juniors Heidi Robbins and Kelly Skinner.  Robbins was 28th overall with a combined time of 1:48.75, while Skinner followed four spots back in 32nd place (1:50.55).  The duo brought the Saints' total to 76.0 points, good enough for 6th place as a team.

Sophomores Bond Longley (38th, 1:52.11), Elena Rogers (43rd, 2:09.20) and Ann West (DQ 2nd) also represented the Scarlet and Brown in the Women's GS.

On the men's side, senior James Andersen picked up his first top-15 finish of 2010 by finishing 14th in the Men's Giant Slalom, pacing the Saints to 8th place.  The Putnam Valley, NY native raced in a total time of 1:41.05 to earn 25.0 points for his team.

Sophomores Matt Dodge and Scott Houser rounded out the scoring for the men's team at 57.5 points.  Dodge was 30th overall after being clocked in at 1:42.96, while Houser was four spots back in 34th position (1:44.12).

Senior Graham Flinn (36th, 1:45.31), junior Thatcher Jacques (44th, 2:26.47) and sophomore Jeremy Lawless (DNF 1st) also competed for the Saints in the GS on Friday.

The University of New Hampshire claimed the men's team title with 111.5 total points, while UVM earned the women's crown with 129.0.  Ace Tarberry of Dartmouth (1:39.18) joined Ryley as an individual champion by winning the men's event.

Both the Saints' men's and women's alpine teams will be in action again tomorrow, Saturday, January 23rd when they compete in the Slalom at the St. Michael's Carnival.