French, who won his second straight national title in the men's classic race
Wednesday, finished third in Friday's 10-kilometer freestyle race at Bretton Woods.
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Peter French captured the individual combined title for
men's cross country while freshmen Emily Nelson and Alicia Fine-Morrison placed high in
their events during Friday's third day of competition at the U.S. Collegiate Ski Association
championships near Lincoln, New Hampshire.
French, who won his second straight national title in the men's classic race
Wednesday, finished third in Friday's 10-kilometer freestyle race at Bretton Woods.
Results from both races made French a runaway winner as the top overall performer in men's cross country. Teammate Cory Root placed third in the individual combined scoring, and a third Whitman competitor, Calon Russell, finished fifth overall.
Ben Schlosser of Mesabi Community and Technical College won Friday's 10K freestyle in 29 minutes, 54.5 seconds. French was third in 30:49.6, Root was fourth in 31:41.8 and Russell was 12th in 32:47.8. Whitman's Jeremy Galton placed 31st in 36:59.6.
"Peter had a good race, even though this isn't his best event," Whitman cross country coach Nathan Phillips said. "He was only three seconds from the lead at one of the intervals."
Root also had a great race, Phillips added. "Normally, this is Calon's best event, but it
didn't work out for him today."
The top 10 finishers in each of the cross country events earn All-American honors.
Mesabi took the men's freestyle team title with 16 place points for its top three finishers. Whitman was second with 19 points. Rounding out the top eight were the University of Wisconsin-Madison 33, Cornell University 37, U.S. Air Force Academy 47, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 49, Clarkson University 49, and the U.S. Military Academy 68. In the women's 7.5-kilometer cross country freestyle Friday, Alicia Fine-Morrison placed fifth for Whitman in a time of 26 minutes, 50.9 seconds. The race was won by Jessica Kleiss of MIT in 25:16.6.
Fine-Morrison, who also placed fifth in Wednesday's classic race, finished fourth in the combined individual scoring for women's cross country. "Alicia's consistency this week has been great," Phillips said. "She stayed in the top five in the freestyle, which hasn't been her best event this season."
Also posting strong efforts for Whitman in Friday's freestyle were Taylor Dale, who
finished 10th in 27:45.6, and Jamey Allsop, who was 15th in 28:56.
"Taylor had a good race," Phillips said. "She's been sick for a few weeks, and I think it really slowed her down in the earlier classic race. Jamey also had a good race. She's been a great surprise all week. We expected her to be our fourth or fifth finisher, but she stayed in the top three in both races."
In the combined individual scoring, Dale finished 13th and Allsop was 14th.
Also placing for Whitman in Friday's freestyle were Colleen Childs, 17th, 29:13.8; Jennifer Van Hove, 19th, 31:52.4; and Amanda Havens, 22nd, 33:29.6.
Clarkson College won the women's freestyle team title with 17 place points for its top three finishers. The Air Force Academy also had 17 points, but the deadlock was broken in Clarkson's favor on the basis total times.
The Whitman women finished third as a team with 27 place points. Army was fourth with 28 points, followed by Cornell with 33.
In the women's slalom at Loon Mountain Friday, Whitman finished third behind winner Sierra Nevada College and runner-up Boston College. Sierra Nevada was first with a time of 282.23 seconds for its top three finishers. Boston College was next with a time of 290.18 seconds, followed by Whitman with 295.35. St. Olaf's College was fourth and Colorado Mountain College fifth in a field of 17 teams.
Stephanie Hoolihan of Sierra Nevada won the event in 93.32 seconds for her two runs. Whitman freshman Emily Nelson, slowed in recent weeks by a leg injury, was fourth after her first run and finished seventh overall in 96.00 seconds. By placing in the top 15, Nelson earned All-American honors.
"Emily had an awesome first run and then a good second run," Whitman alpine coach
Tom Olson said. "She and Ingrid Backstrom have been our best slalom skiers all season.
Unfortunately, Ingrid had a bad day, which everyone has at one time or another. It's been so
cold here that the snow is very hard and fast, and Ingrid just isn't used to it."
Backstrom finished 32nd in the slalom in 104.99 seconds. Two other Whitman skiers helped pick up the slack. Shauna Aylward, also a freshman, placed 17th in 98.94 seconds. Erin Gilbertson was 20th in 100.41 seconds. Heidi Reifenstein fell on her first run and did not finish.
"We had four of our five women finish, and that's the key to team skiing," Olson said. "That's why Whitman has accomplished so much at nationals year after year after year this decade."
Each of the Whitman athletes who placed in the top 15 of their individuals Friday earned All-American honors.
Whitman's third-place finish in the women's slalom kept the Missionaries in first place in the battle for the women's all-around national title. With one day of competition left, the Whitman men have an even larger lead in their pursuit of the all-around title.
Daytime temperatures warmed into the teens Friday after overnight lows registered 26 degrees below zero at Bretton Woods and minus 12 degrees at Loon Mountain.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, (509) 527-5902
E-Mail Address: holden@whitman.edu