NEWBURY, N.H.—The Babson College alpine ski teams put together a number of strong performances in the giant slalom at the Babson Carnival at Mount Sunapee on Friday, highlighted by strong finishes from sophomore Sam Barber (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and first-year Kristen Sweeney (Westport, Conn.). Barber had the best result of his career, placing second overall, as the men won their first event of the season, while Sweeney posted a third-place finish in her collegiate debut to help the women's team come in seventh.
Barber had the best time of the day (47.69) in his first run down the mountain and put together a total time of 1:41.14 to finish less than a second behind individual winner Sean Donohue of Clarkson University. Sophomore Graham Quisenberry (Farmington, Conn.) was fifth with a two-run time of 1:42.08, and classmate Carter Dowd (Salt Lake City, Utah) came in seventh, posting a time of 1:43.71. Both Quisenberry and Dowd have finished in the top-10 in each of their three races this season.
Junior Kevin Dachos (Northampton, Mass.) was seventh after his first run and finished 11th with a time of 1:44.73, which is his best result of the season. Classmate Jack Barber (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) posed the best finish of his career, putting together a two-run time of 1:45.64 to finish in 16th place. Overall, the Beavers had six of their skiers in the top-22 on Friday, holding off the Golden Knights, which won both of last weekend's races, and third-place Massachusetts.
Sweeney, who is a member of the Irish national ski team, was sixth after her first run but had the second-fastest time on her final run to post a total time of 1:47.84. Sophomore Molly Danzig (Allendale, N.J.) came in 34th with time of 2:01.26, followed by senior Jaclyn LaCavalla (New City, N.Y.) who was 40th with a time of 2:03.94.
Brown University won its third straight MacConnell Division race to start the season, followed by St. Anselm and Clarkson in second and third place, respectively.
The alpine ski teams will wrap up the weekend tomorrow at the Brown Carnival, competing in the slalom at Blackwater Ski Area.
