CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine -- The Babson College men's alpine ski team locked up its fifth straight bid to the USCSA National Championships on Sunday, as the Beavers finished fifth in the slalom event and fourth overall at the Eastern Regional Championships at Sugarloaf.
The Beavers' national-qualifying hopes were in jeopardy after the first run, which saw only three of the team's five competitors post clean trips down the hill. With Babson needing three strong scores to place highly as a team, junior Zach Breakstone, senior captain Greg LaFrance, and sophomore Clark Chamberlin each turned in stellar second runs under pressure to lift the squad to a fifth-place finish in the event. Breakstone posted a combined time of 1:26.62 to place 12th, LaFrance was close behind in 13th place with a total time of 1:26.91, and Chamberlin came in 22nd with a time of 1:31.53. After struggling on his first run, junior Richard Beneduci came back strong with a second run of 45.65 seconds, placing him 37th overall with a two-run total of 1:58.61.
Three of Babson's skiers received All-Region honors following the two-day competition. Breakstone garnered recognition after finishing 12th in the overall individual standings, while LaFrance and first-year Kevin Dachos were also honored after tying for 15th place.
Under the guidance of first-year head coach John DeWit '04, the Beavers will now head to Sunday River for the USCSA National Championships on March 6-10. This will be the program's fifth straight trip to nationals and its seventh in the last nine years.
