BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The Babson College men's alpine ski team is less than 24 hours away from kicking off its sixth straight appearance at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) National Championships at Sun Valley, Idaho. The Beavers will compete in the giant slalom on Wednesday, March 6, before finishing up with the slalom on Friday, March 8. Both races are slated to begin at 9:30 a.m. local time (11:30 a.m. EST).

Babson earned the program's 10th USCSA National appearance after claiming its first-ever Eastern Collegiate Ski Conference (ECSC) Regional Championship at Mount Abram on February 23-24. That came just one week after the Green and White wrapped up the regular season in second place in the MacConnell Division standings - the squad's best league finish since 1993.

Leading the Beavers this weekend will be first-year star Carter Dowd, who was named MacConnell Division Skier of the Year after finishing first overall in the individual conference standings. The rookie sensation won a total of three races this winter, including the slalom competition at the Regional Championships.

Joining Dowd in Babson's talented lineup will be senior captain Zach Breakstone, sophomore Kevin Dachos, and fellow first-years Graham Quisenberry and Sam Barber. Breakstone placed 14th in the MacConnell Division standings thanks to seven top-12 finishes, and he followed that up by taking ninth in the slalom at regionals. Quisenberry, who came in 16th in the league standings, is coming off his best performance of the season at regionals, where he finished 12th in the GS and second in the slalom, and Barber placed 18th in the league before finishing eighth in the GS and 10th in the slalom at Mount Abram. Dachos rounds out the lineup after placing 20th in the MacConnell Division on the strength of four top-12 efforts during the season.

Babson will be hoping to match and possibly exceed last year's magnificent seventh-place performance at nationals. The program's best finishes ever came in 2006 and 2009, when the Beavers placed sixth in the country.

Live coverage of this year's National Championships will be available courtesy of the USCSA broadcast network.