Skiing Opens Season at Colby-Sawyer Carnival

Men's Team Records Strong Debut

Jan. 15, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The MIT skiing team traveled to Mount Sunapee for the Colby-Sawyer College Carnival which was held on January 11-12. The competition featured a pair of giant slalom races with the men's team placing sixth and the women claiming ninth place on Friday. The next day, the men moved up one spot while the women held steady in the rankings.

In the first day of action, Kyle Backman led the Engineers by placing 11th with a time of 36.01, less than one second behind the top finisher. Tim Pier captured 23rd in 36.75 while Jacob Stultz (37.59, 40th), Michael Yurkerwich (38.24, 43rd), Adam Bockelie (38.60, 48th), Ian Wolfe (39.98, 53rd), and Jake Muhleman (41.20, 56th) formed a nice pack for MIT. Frank Yaul rounded out the group by placing 68th with a mark of 51.63.

Rachel Leuthold led the charge for the Engineers in her first intercollegiate race as she finished 55th in 41.35. Alexis Dale claimed 59th (42.04), followed by Jessica Stanley (44.00, 62nd), Jillian Reddy (47.35, 68th), and Destie Jo Provenzano (53.51, 77th).

On Saturday, Pier paced MIT with a mark of 1:41.08 to capture 24th place. Strong performances by Stultz (1:42.06, 28th), Backman (1:44.99, 31st), and Bockelie (1:45.47, 33rd) helped the Engineers move up in the final standings. Muhleman clocked a time of 1:53.49 (41st) while Darren Verploegen came in at 1:56.41 (45th). Christopher Stephenson closed out the weekend by logging a time of 2:09.15 to finish 56th.

Dale notched the best showing for the women's team as she placed 47th with a total time of 2:12.42. Stanley (2:24.96) and Alyssa Samson (2:28.02) finished two spots behind each other, claiming 54th and 56th. Reddy (2:36.93) and Provenzano (2:41.61) accomplished the same feat as they ranked 60th and 62nd.