RESULTS
NEWBURY, N.H. – The Babson College alpine ski teams opened
their 2011 season with the first of two straight giant slalom races
at the Colby-Sawyer Carnival at Mount Sunapee on Friday. The
men's team placed two athletes in the top 10 on its way to a
fourth-place finish out of nine teams, while the women placed
eighth out of 10 squads.
The men's half of the race featured a spectacular
collegiate debut by Beavers first-year Mark Grundy
(Cumberland, R.I.), who finished fourth overall with a
combined time of 1:42.52 – just two-hundredths of a second
out of third and only 0.80 seconds off the winning pace. He was
joined in the top 10 by senior captain Keith Vella (Sussex,
N.J.), who opened his final season with a stellar
sixth-place effort, posting a two-run time of 1:43.14.
Senior captain Max Winthrop (Avon, Conn.)
cracked the top 20 in his first race of the year, taking 16th
overall in 1:45.59. He was followed by sophomore Ryan Drake
(West Simsbury, Conn.) in 41st place, sophomore
Ricky Beneduci (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.) in 43rd,
senior Scott Kern (Basking Ridge, N.J.) in 49th,
and first-year Stephen Seibel (Ottawa, Ontario) in
57th.
The women were paced by the tandem of senior co-captains
Alexis Burton (Salt Lake City, Utah) and
Alyssa Sullivan (Tiverton, R.I.). Burton finished
20th overall with a combined time of 1:52.30, while Sullivan
followed in 27th place with a two-run total of 1:54.53. Rounding
out the Beavers' lineup were sophomore Hilary Reis
(Bethel, Maine) in 36th place, sophomore Franny
Robertson (Douglas, Wyo.) in 39th, first-year
Jaclyn LaCavalla (New City, N.Y.) in 51st, and
first-year Sophie Komornicki (Naperville, Ill.) in
62nd.
Both teams will finish up their opening weekend with another GS
event on Saturday morning.