Meanwhile, Heidi Reifenstein won the women's giant slalom on Tuesday, Feb. 18, to
spark the Whitman women to a second-place team showing in the regional championships,
which were held in Winter Park, Colorado.
Meanwhile, Heidi Reifenstein won the women's giant slalom on Tuesday, Feb. 18, to
spark the Whitman women to a second-place team showing in the regional championships,
which were held in Winter Park, Colorado.
The top five teams in both the men's and women's competitions advance to the USCSA championships, which begin March 5 at Lake Tahoe.
"All that mattered was for our teams to finish in the top five and take the next step to nationals," Whitman alpine coach Tom Olson said. "At the same time it's really nice to have our teams place first and second, especially when you consider that our women's team is very young."
By winning both regional events, the Whitman men advanced to nationals with two points. Also qualifying for nationals on the men's side were Rocky Mountain College with five points, Colorado Mountain College with seven points, University of British Columbia with eight points and Albertson College with ten.
Albertson, which placed first in the women's scoring in both regional events, also advanced to nationals with two points. The Whitman women placed second with five points, edging third place Montana State by a half point. Seattle University advanced with 10 points, as did Colorado Mountain College with 10.5.
In the individual men's scoring, Whitman skiers placed second in both events.
In the men's giant slalom on Feb. 19, Whitman freshman Charlie Woodruff made the
most of the home slope advantage in placing second and leading the Missionaries to the team
victory. Woodruff, who hails from nearby Steamboat Springs, Colorado, finished his two runs
in 2:06.35. He finished little more than a second behind Alexandre Lussier, a French
Canadian and former World Cup skier who competed for Rocky Mountain College.
"Charlie had a great second run," Whitman alpine coach Tom Olson said. "This area is where he grew up, and he felt right at home. His mom was there. His dogs were there."
There was more to Woodruff's strong showing than home cooking, however. During the recent Northwest Collegiate Ski Conference season, Woodruff was a model of consistency, winning one event and placing second or third on six other occasions.
Also placing for Whitman in the regional giant slalom event were Gery Benedetti, who was sixth in a time of 2:07.22, and Andy Olsson who overcame a shaky first run to place second on his second run and finish seventh overall in 2:07.52. Earlier in the year, Olsson had won five of the six Northwest Conference events in which he competed.
"Gery skied very well, and Andy obviously is a much better skier than what he showed on the first run," Olson said. "Andy had trouble with one part of the course and scrubbed a lot of speed. That's ski racing. It all happens in a heartbeat out there."
Whitman's Mike Craven placed 13th in 2:10.25 in the giant slalom. Mike Barnett, a Whitman freshman, was 43rd in 2:21.02.
The Whitman men captured the regional giant slalom title with a combined time of 381.09 seconds. The University of British Columbia was second with a time of 384.53 seconds. Rocky Mountain College placed third in 386.65. Colorado Mountain College was fourth and Montana State fifth.
In the men's slalom on Feb. 20, Whitman's Olsson placed second behind Trevor
Wachsman of Colorado Mountain College by the narrowest of margins. Wachsman took first
in 92.85 seconds, nipping Olsson by seven one-hundredths of a second. Olsson finished
second on his first run before winning the second run.
"Andy skied great today, but so did Trevor," Olson said. "They are both awesome athletes."
Also in the slalom, Craven placed sixth for Whitman in a time of 96.85, and Woodruff was 12th in 98.86. Barnett fell on his second run and did not finish.
As a team, the Whitman men won the regional slalom title with a time of 288.63 seconds, whipping second-place Rocky Mountain College by more than 10 seconds. Colorado Mountain College was third, Albertson College fourth and Oregon State fifth.
"Our guys were 1.3 seconds out of first place after the first slalom run," Olson noted. "Then we had a great second run and beat the field pretty soundly."
When the regional championships opened on Feb. 18 with the women's giant slalom, Whitman's Reifenstein was faced with an interesting question. After winning all four giant slalom events during the Northwest Conference season, what was she going to do for an encore?
Reifenstein, a freshman, answered that question by winning the regional giant slalom title. She placed first with a time of 1:31.75 for her two runs down the hill. Marni Yamada of Colorado Mountain College was more than a second behind in second place with Emily Thurber of Albertson College placing third.
"Heidi is one awesome giant slalom skier," Olson said. "This was a very deep, talented field. Solid, consistent skiing is what gets it done at this level, and Heidi pulled a great second run to get it done."
Whitman's Amy Johnson, another freshman on a team of first- and second-year skiers, was third on her second run and finished 10th overall in 1:38.29. Dina Gagarina-Pedro was 23rd in 1:43.29, while teammate Ingrid Backstrom was 28th in 1:44.92. Jessice Burke fell on her first run and did not finish.
As a group, the Whitman women placed second in the team scoring. Albertson won the giant slalom team title with a combined time of 406.08 seconds. Whitman was second in 413.33 seconds. Montana State University took third in 423.29. The University of British Columbia was fourth and Seattle University fifth.
Olson said Burke's fall on her first run opened the door for Albertson to win the team scoring. "It's too bad because Jessica was having a very fast first run, a real ripper," he said. "Had she not fallen, she was probably going to win the first run. She was about seven gates from the finish when she hooked a tip and fell."
In the women's slalom Feb. 20, Albertson skiers swept three of the top four spots to win easily. Kristy Timm won the event in 91.28 seconds. Johnson gave Whitman its best individual finish, placing sixth in 92.58 seconds. Backstrom finished 11th in 94.77.
Reifenstein, after winning the giant slalom two days earlier, hurt a leg in a training run fall and slipped to 15th in the slalom. Her time was 95.63.
"Heidi obviously wasn't up to par, but she gave it her best shot," Olson said. Also placing for Whitman in the slalom were Gagarina-Pedro, who was 19th in 97.07, and Burke, who was 22nd in 97.48.
"Our women all felt they could have done better," Olson said. "But even though we didn't ski exceptionally well, we skied smart and did what was necessary to make it back to nationals."
Tom Olson, Whitman Ski Team, (509) 527-5884
Email Address: olson@whitman.edu
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, (509) 527-5902
Email Address: holden@whitman.edu