News release date: Wednesday, March 11, 1998

Peter French Wins Second Straight
National Title in X-Country Classic Race

Competing at the Bretton Woods ski resort in temperatures that hovered around 12 degrees, French won the race in 55 minutes, 53.71 seconds.

With two of his teammates placing second and sixth, French also led the Whitman men to their second consecutive national team title in the classic event.

Meanwhile, in the women's 10-kilometer classic event, Whitman freshman Alicia Fine- Morrison placed fifth to lead her team to a fifth-place showing in the team scoring.

The Whitman women's alpine team also saw its first action Wednesday, placing second behind perennial powerhouse Sierra Nevada College in the giant slalom. In a field of 90 skiers at the Loon Mountain resort, freshman Shauna Aylward paced the Missionaries by placing fifth, one spot ahead of her sophomore teammate Heidi Reifenstein.

"It was a very good first day for Whitman," alpine coach Tom Olson said. "The men's cross country team couldn't do much better than it did, and the our two women's teams made a good start toward winning their all-around titles."

The championships continue through Saturday. Whitman is gunning for its fourth consecutive men's and women's all-around titles, which combine results from the alpine and cross country events.

In Wednesday's 15-kilometer cross country classic race, French led from start to finish, giving the Missionaries their third national title in that event in the last four years. Whitman's Zach Vestal, who graduated last year, won the classic race in 1995.

"Peter was in total control the whole way," Whitman cross country coach Nathan Phillips said. "At the 10-kilometer point, Whitman skiers were running one-two-three. I know the guys had talked beforehand about making a clean sweep, and it almost worked out that."

Calon Russell, a Whitman sophomore, placed second behind French in 56 minutes, 19.23 seconds. Cory Root, also a sophomore, finished sixth in 57:02.58, about 40 seconds out of third place.

Jeremy Galton, a Whitman junior, finished 29th in one hour, eight minutes, 45.14 seconds. A total of 37 skiers competed in the men's race.

Counting its top three finishers, the Whitman men the team scoring title with nine points. Clarkson College was a distant second with 29 points, followed by the U.S. Air Force Academy with 33 points. Other teams in the top seven included the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University and the U.S. Military Academy (Army).

Katie Johnson of Clarkson College won the women's 10-kilometer classic race in 47 minutes, 13.20 seconds. Whitman's Fine-Morrison posted a time of 49:01.53 in placing fifth for the Missionaries.

Jamey Allsop, a sophomore, was next in line for Whitman, placing 13th in 52:10.07. Taylor Dale, another sophomore, finished 15th in 53:54.17, and Colleen Childs, placed 16th in 54:05.56.

Also placing for Whitman were sophomores Amanda Havens, 20th, 57:01.30, and Jennifer Van Hove, 21st, 57:48.49.

The Air Force Academy won the women's team scoring with 16 points, one point ahead of second-place Clarkston. Army was third with 28 points, Cornell fourth with 30 and Whitman fifth with 31.

"The women's race was really brutal in terms of weather conditions," Phillips said. "The women started at about 9 a.m. and there was still a lot of loose snow drifting across the tracks, which slows down the race quite a bit. With the air temperature at about 12 degrees and a pretty good wind blowing, I'm guessing the wind chill was about 10 degrees below zero."

The men's and women's freestyle cross country races are slated for Friday, and Phillips was expecting his women in particular to make a better team showing.

"Our women are stronger in the freestyle event, and I think they'd like to move up to second or third place in that event," Phillips said. "Our men are still talking about finishing one-two-three in their freestyle race."

In the women's giant slalom Wednesday, Sierra Nevada skiers swept the top three individual places to whip second-place Whitman by nearly 20 seconds.

Sierra Nevada, which routinely stocks its alpine rosters with World Cup skiers from around the world, won the women's team scoring with a combined time of 313.23 seconds for its top three finishers.

Whitman was second with 332.15 seconds. Plymouth State was third with 334.55, followed by Boston College with 336.28 and the University of British Columbia with 337.73.

Sierra Nevada's Marika Fave won the event with a time of 102.55 seconds for her two runs down the hill.

Whitman's Shauna Aylward placed fifth in 108.74 seconds. She edged teammate Heidi Reifenstein by two one-hundredths of a second.

"Shauna had an outstanding first run and then had a little trouble with her second run," Olson said "It was just the opposite with Heidi. She struggled the first time down and then really rolled on her second run."

Olson wasn't surprised to see Aylward place high in first national competition. "Shauna is a very strong-willed athlete, very confident. So is Heidi. They are very capable of handling the pressure and getting the job done."

Emily Nelson, a Whitman freshman, rebounded from a recent leg injury to place 28th in 114.65 seconds. "I'm sure the leg was still bothering her, but there were no complaints from her," Olson said.

Also placing for Whitman were sophomores Ingrid Backstrom, who was 29th in 115.23 seconds, and Jessica Burke, who was 33rd in 115.77.

Olson said the Sierra Nevada women's team was no doubt motivated by its loss to Whitman in the alpine combined scoring at last year's championships. It marked the first time since 1991 that Sierra Nevada had not claimed the women's alpine title.

"Our women upset them last year, but Sierra Nevada brings in World Cup skiers year after year," Olson said. "Their women's team is just outstanding this year, and I'm sure their men's team is just the same."

Individual competitors who place in the top 15 in each of the alpine and cross country events earn All-American honors. Whitman's All-Americans Wednesday were French, Russell and Root in men's cross country, Fine-Morrison, Allsop and Taylor in women's cross country, and Aylward and Reifenstein in women's alpine.

CONTACT:

Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, (509) 527-5902
E-Mail Address: holden@whitman.edu