The men’s and women’s ski teams finished their regular seasons in style with strong results at Pico Mountain last weekend. Behind the fine individual performances of Colin Prensky ’07 and Will Leuchter-Mindel ’07, the men’s team continued to shock opponents by clinching a postseason berth in regional competition.
Prensky came in seventh in the slalom with a total time of 1:14.32 over two runs en route to finishing second in the division’s individual standings. Leuchter-Mindel finished 11th with an aggregate time of 1:17.39, and Oliver Utne ’08 followed in 12th place, just three tenths of a second behind Leuchter-Mindel’s pace.
“This has been one of my best seasons,” Prensky said. “Finishing second overall is pretty cool. I thought that maybe I could hold off Brett Andrews, the ubermachen from Yale, after skiing really well two weekends ago, but last weekend he was too good and passed me in the points. I never would have expected to be in that position.”
The increased structure of the team this year fostered the squad’s considerable depth, as many underclassmen contributed to the push for a regional bid. With Sean Levy ’08 and Oren Gersten ’08 placing 17th and 18th respectively, and Jamie Hiteshew ’08 claiming 22nd place, the Cards put six skiers in the top 25 of the slalom competition last weekend.
“The freshmen from last year were getting their bearings as the team became more structured, but now as sophomores they are truly a force to be reckoned with,” said captain Daniel Rubin ’06. “Wesleyan is clearly becoming recognized in USCSA racing.”
This talented atmosphere allows the skiers to feed off each other, making a seemingly individual sport into a team-oriented affair.
“It really helped to see so many people on my team who not only wanted to have a good time, but also wanted to race well,” Prensky said. “It’s nice to race in college where everyone wants to have fun and the team is really supportive. It’s really cool to have a team cheer you on as you get ready to push out of the start gate.”
The Cards will ride this team chemistry into regional competition in which the squad will race against larger Northeast schools. While the team is excited for the opportunity to display its formidable talent to unsuspecting foes, the squad is also realistic about the prospects of competing against teams that have coaches and recruited skiers.
“There are a lot of really good skiers at regionals, so it will be fun to see them just tear it up more than anything,” Prensky said. “I have confidence that we will probably have more fun than any other team out there.
While the men finished the regular season in third place in the McBrine Division, the women’s team also made significant strides. Led all season by Liz Dee ’06, who finished eighth in the Slalom last weekend at 1:34.16, and Kristen Nordstrom ’06, who took 20th place in the event, the women’s squad continued to show improvement in both dedication and skill.
”Hopefully, the team’s continued success will attract more attention from the University and grant us more support from them,“ Rubin said. ”Additionally, we hope to attract top female racers for the still young, but energetic women’s team.“
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