WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- On a day marred by heavy snow and failures with electronic timing equipment, Whitman College's Rachel Walker came within an eyelash of winning the women's giant slalom on Saturday at the Western State Invitational near Crested Butte, Colo.
Walker, a first-year skier from Whistler, British Columbia, placed second in event, finishing less than two-tenths of a second behind the winner, the University of Denver's Sophie Ormond, a senior from Thones, France.
Because of blizzard-like conditions and timing equipment problems, the women's giant slalom was reduced to one run instead of two. Ormond won with a time of 1:16.82. Walker was right behind in 1:16.96. Denver's Barbara Knor, a junior from Umhausen, Austria, was third in 1:17.00.
"Rachel rocked the world on her first run," Whitman alpine coach Tom Olson said. "She skied very well and very aggressively. She nailed it. That's higher than any of our skiers have finished in our two seasons in the NCAA."
Saturday's outcome virtually assures Walker a berth at the NCAA national championships, slated for March 10-13 at the Sugar Bowl Ski Resort near Donner Summit, Calif. A total of 20 alpine women from the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) will advance to the national championships. "I'm almost 99.9 percent certain Rachel will go," Olson said.
Meanwhile, in the men's slalom on Saturday, Whitman's Hannes Zirknitzer hit the weather at its worst and finished 17th with a two-run time of 2:24.81. "It wasn't as high a finish as we wanted," Olson said. "As far as qualifying for nationals, Hannes is on the bubble right now. My guess is that he will go as one of the 18 alpine men from our conference, but we'll have to wait and see."
The selection process for nationals will be finalized Monday during a conference telephone call among RMISA coaches.
Zirknitzer, a sophomore from Bright, Australia, was the fifth skier down the hill in Saturday's first run. What should have been a good starting position, however, fell victim to the weather. The early skiers were slowed by blizzard conditions. "After about the first 20 skiers went down, the storm let up and the sun came out, glazing the track," Olson said. "As it turned out, the top three skiers in the first run started in the 29th, 30th and 32nd positions. Hannes and others early in the run just hit some bad weather and some tough luck."
Zirknitzer, who has finished as high as fourth in the slalom this season, finished his two runs Saturday in 1:13.05. Denver's Dominik Schweiger, a junior from Wangle, Austria, won the race in 1:11.05. The University of Nevada's Michal Rajcan, a sophomore from Slovakia, was second in 1:11.34.
The men's slalom was delayed when the electronic timing equipment failed after the first run. The delay, along with the extreme weather conditions, later resulted in the women's giant slalom being shortened to one run.
Also placing for the Whitman men Saturday were sophomore Nate Johnson, who was 33rd in 1:18.40, and sophomore Chris McCullough, who was 35th in 1:24.76.
Others placing for the Missionary women in Saturday's giant slalom were senior Julia Babilis, 24th, 1:20.34; first-year skier Renee Thibodeau, 33rd, 1:23.16; first-year skier Maria Corcorran, 37th, 1:25.65; and sophomore Langely McNeal, 40th, 1:26.77.
In the two-day combined scoring (alpine/nordic, men/women), Whitman finished ninth with 213 points. Denver was first with 562 points, followed by New Mexico with 510 in second and Utah with 460 in third.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information
(509) 527-5902; Email: holden@whitman.edu