On March 7th, 2012 Lafayette’s Women’s Ski Team competed in the giant slalom national championship in Sunday River, ME. The women’s team had never qualified for nationals before and were looking forward to seeing how they could do against some of the best racers in the country, including some racers on european national teams and junior olympic racing programs.
The girls could not have asked for better conditions, as the day brought a gorgeous blue bird sky without a breath of wind in the air. There were many schools from as far as Colorado and Canada competing, but the girls felt that their east coast skiing background would help them with the conditions in Maine. Nevertheless, the course was probably as difficult as the girls had ever raced on, with its alterations in pitch and steep top section forcing them to change their attack constantly throughout the technical sections and long 380 meter vertical drop. The course design foreshadowed a war between these 101 athletes and it didn’t disappoint.
Meg del Col was the first Lafayette girl to race and skied to a strong 34th place finish, skiing the top section well, despite the difficult headwall there throwing the skiers way out to the left. She stayed close to the gates and took a very aggressive line down the mountain. Meg and Julia Mason (57th) put their excellent conditioning to good use, skiing with great precision down this difficult course- a course twice as long as any GS course the girls had raced on during the season. On a course like this your legs really start to burn at the bottom of the 53 gates when the lactic acid is setting in and muscles are screaming in agony as you fight the fatigue, trying to negotiate the last few gates before the finish corral. Despite Lafayette’s efforts, 24 year old Matea Ferk from Croatia, skiing for Sierra Nevada College won the giant slalom national championship that day. In the Friday slalom race, Meg del Col showed her dedication in deciding to hike a missed gate on the 1st run, just so she could have an opportunity for a second run. Julia Mason came in 55th, but overall it was a tough day for the Lafayette girls. Kia Mosenthal from Brown University ended up winning the slalom title.
For the snowboarders, freshman Rachel Shore had a brilliant 1st run, using every ounce of technical skill she possessed to finish in 4th place before stumbling on her second run. Nevertheless, she showed the nationals field she knew how to generate serious speed and still came in 13th overall after that terrific first run. You can’t keep lightning in a bottle, and Rachel kept building on her strong regular season and regionals performances, showing she could compete at each subsequent level.
Freestyle competitor and Easton rail jam frequenter, Reed Shapiro competed at nationals in the slopestyle and skier-cross competition. He made the finals in slopestyle finishing in 9th place, and came in 24th place out of 76 competitors in skier cross. His 9th place finish garnered him 2nd team All-American honors for slopestyle.
Despite not reaching the same level of success they were accustomed to at the conference and regional level, the Lafayette women’s ski team was thrilled just to be able to compete on a world class race course with some of the best athletes in the country. They all had a great time taking part in nationals and the experience they gained from competing on such a difficult stage will translate to invaluable experience for building towards next season’s success.
-Adi