2008 Woodie Awards
W. skiers coast to success at N.H. carnival
Megan McCahill
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Sports
The women's ski team had the opportunity to compete at Waterville Valley, N.H. - the site of nearly a dozen World Cup competitions over the years - as part of the Plymouth State Carnival. The Bears finished fourth as a team in both the slalom on Saturday and the giant slalom on Sunday.
Krista Consiglio '11 continued the impressive start to her collegiate career, winning both races. Consiglio has finished in the top two in five out of the six races she's skied in so far, winning three of them.
"The conditions were really nice all weekend," Consiglio said. "Saturday it was pretty sunny and nice and Sunday it snowed, but the coaches did a great job maintaining the course, so it really didn't affect us."
In the slalom competition on Saturday, Brown finished fourth behind Colby-Sawyer, UMass and Plymouth State. Consiglio dominated the field, winning the race by nearly a second with a time of 1:34.09. Two other Bears finished in the top 20, with Sophie Elgort '08 taking 14th at 1:39.36 and Elisa Handbury '10 coming in right behind her in 16th place with a time of 1:39.48. Mallory Taub '08 and co-captain Anna Bengston '09 both finished in the top 40 of the event, which had over 70 skiers. Taub's time of 1:50.75 was good for 36th place, and Bengston took 40th at 1:56.63.
"On Saturday some (of) our girls had a little trouble finishing cleanly," Consiglio said, pointing out that a couple girls fell during their runs. "We've had more training this winter on the giant slalom, so we're not quite as comfortable on the slalom course."
Despite competing in the giant slalom on Sunday, the second day of the carnival was not all that different from the first day for the Bears. Consiglio once again torched the rest of the field to win the race and complete her first sweep at a college carnival. Her time of 2:20.12 was an astounding two seconds faster than the second-place finisher, from host Plymouth State.
As a team, Brown finished fourth on the day, coming in behind BC, Colby-Sawyer and Plymouth State. Besides Consiglio, Brown managed only one other top-20 finisher, as Bengston took 14th place with her time of 2:24.33. Elgort finished just outside of the top 20, coming in 24th at 2:25.50. The Bears had three other skiers place in the top 40, with Handbury's 2:29.52 time good for 34th and co-captain Meaghan Casey '08 finishing just in front of classmate Taub. Casey came in 38th followed by Taub in 39th, with times of 2:30.75 and 2:31.02, respectively.
"We were missing Blaine Martin ('11) this weekend, and it would have been nice to have her so we could've had another skier to possibly score," Consiglio said. The top four skiers for each squad count towards the team's score.
The Bears return to action next weekend, where they'll face the challenge of skiing on two different mountains. The slalom races will be held at Pats Peak, N.H., on Saturday, and the giant slalom will be run at Loon Mountain, N.H. on Sunday.
"We're going to have to travel Saturday night, which we haven't done this season," Consiglio said. "It shouldn't be a big deal though, and we want to definitely finish in the top three. Hopefully we can pull everything together and even get a win this weekend."
Krista Consiglio '11 continued the impressive start to her collegiate career, winning both races. Consiglio has finished in the top two in five out of the six races she's skied in so far, winning three of them.
"The conditions were really nice all weekend," Consiglio said. "Saturday it was pretty sunny and nice and Sunday it snowed, but the coaches did a great job maintaining the course, so it really didn't affect us."
In the slalom competition on Saturday, Brown finished fourth behind Colby-Sawyer, UMass and Plymouth State. Consiglio dominated the field, winning the race by nearly a second with a time of 1:34.09. Two other Bears finished in the top 20, with Sophie Elgort '08 taking 14th at 1:39.36 and Elisa Handbury '10 coming in right behind her in 16th place with a time of 1:39.48. Mallory Taub '08 and co-captain Anna Bengston '09 both finished in the top 40 of the event, which had over 70 skiers. Taub's time of 1:50.75 was good for 36th place, and Bengston took 40th at 1:56.63.
"On Saturday some (of) our girls had a little trouble finishing cleanly," Consiglio said, pointing out that a couple girls fell during their runs. "We've had more training this winter on the giant slalom, so we're not quite as comfortable on the slalom course."
Despite competing in the giant slalom on Sunday, the second day of the carnival was not all that different from the first day for the Bears. Consiglio once again torched the rest of the field to win the race and complete her first sweep at a college carnival. Her time of 2:20.12 was an astounding two seconds faster than the second-place finisher, from host Plymouth State.
As a team, Brown finished fourth on the day, coming in behind BC, Colby-Sawyer and Plymouth State. Besides Consiglio, Brown managed only one other top-20 finisher, as Bengston took 14th place with her time of 2:24.33. Elgort finished just outside of the top 20, coming in 24th at 2:25.50. The Bears had three other skiers place in the top 40, with Handbury's 2:29.52 time good for 34th and co-captain Meaghan Casey '08 finishing just in front of classmate Taub. Casey came in 38th followed by Taub in 39th, with times of 2:30.75 and 2:31.02, respectively.
"We were missing Blaine Martin ('11) this weekend, and it would have been nice to have her so we could've had another skier to possibly score," Consiglio said. The top four skiers for each squad count towards the team's score.
The Bears return to action next weekend, where they'll face the challenge of skiing on two different mountains. The slalom races will be held at Pats Peak, N.H., on Saturday, and the giant slalom will be run at Loon Mountain, N.H. on Sunday.
"We're going to have to travel Saturday night, which we haven't done this season," Consiglio said. "It shouldn't be a big deal though, and we want to definitely finish in the top three. Hopefully we can pull everything together and even get a win this weekend."