Men Second at Regional Championships; Women Seventh
Feb 23, 2009
2/22/09
After an exciting weekend at USCSA Mid-East Regional Championships, the men’s and women’s teams will both advance to National Championships next week! With warm course conditions and soft snow, the teams fought hard to stay fast in the course during Friday’s giant slalom race. The men found themselves trailing in 3rd after the first run, but laid down four top ten second runs to clinch victory in the GS over Clarkson by over a second and a half. The team was led by men’s captain Bruce Hamlin ’10, who won the race. Rounding out the rest of the team were great performances by Robert Abelson ’11 (6th), Ryan Serell ’12 (8th), Eric Barnum ’12 (12th), and Tucker Moffat ’10 (21st). The women also put up strong results, placing 5th as a team. Leading the charge was Callan Space ’09 (13th), Liz Loftus ’10 (16th), Robin Davenport ’12 (22nd), Rebecca Smith ’11 (28th), and Heather Merkis ’10 (43rd).
In Saturday’s Slalom, the men knew that they only needed to finish cleanly to qualify for National Championships. After laying down a solid first run, a tough second run course set led to numerous DNF’s and DSQ’s across the board. However, with some exciting saves and athletic skiing, the men were still able to bring home three clean runs, taking second for the day, and putting them into a tie for first with Clarkson for the weekend. Clarkson won the tie on place points, putting the Cornell men into second overall for the Regional Championship event. The men were led by some spectacular skiing from Abelson (5th), Chad Kossar ’10 (12th), and Serell (19th). The women also struggled to find the finish line in the slalom, falling to ninth for the day and seventh for the weekend. Leading the way for the women was Katharine Post ’09 (22nd), Smith (34th), and Space (35th). The women were still able to qualify for nationals on USCSA’s four-way rule.
Next week, the team will travel to Winter Park Colorado to compete in the USCSA National Championships. Competition dates are March 4th-7th. On our way to nationals, we would like to thank all of the alumni, race parents, and loyal supporters who have made it possible for us to compete at such a high level. Our program could not thrive without your support. Look for our updates from Winter Park as the team looks to culminate their impressive season with a strong showing at National Championships.
Men, Women Have a Strong Final Weekend at Toggenburg
Feb 16, 2009
02/15/09
This weekend, the alpine team traveled to Toggenburg Ski Area for their final race of the regular season. The men skied well in the giant slalom on Saturday, finishing strong in second place. Of their four finishers, all four were in the top fifteen, led by captain Bruce Hamlin ’10 (3rd) and followed closely by Robert Abelson ’11 (5th), Ryan Serell ‘12 (14th), and Chad Kossar ‘10 (15th). The women knifed their way through the GS race, jumping into third over the University of Rochester by a mere 1.2 seconds. They were led by great performances form Callan Space ’09 (6th), Elizabeth Loftus ’10 (9th), Robin Davenport ’12 (16th), Rebecca Smith ’11 (19th), and Katie Post ’09 (23rd).
On Sunday morning, under sunny skies and beautiful race conditions, the men had some great skiing in the slalom, but were not able to oust the strong Syracuse team on their home turf. The men finished in second for the day, and the weekend, with Kossar leading the charge in the slalom placing 4th. He was followed up by Hamlin (7th), Eric Barnum ‘12 (9th), and Serell (12th). The women also put up a great result, finishing 3rd in the slalom to place them in fourth for the weekend. They stacked their entire starting lineup into the top 25, with strong finishes from Loftus (4th), Smith (11th), Davenport (13th), Post (18th), and Emily Dally ’09 (25th).
Upon reaching the end of the regular season, both the men’s and women’s alpine teams have qualified to compete at the United States Collegiate Ski Association’s Middle Eastern Conference Regional Championships, which will be held February 20th & 21st at West Mountain in Glens Falls, NY. The men finished their season in second place for the Division, and the women finished their season in a strong fourth place for the division. We would also like to congratulate the following individuals, who were named to the All Conference Team for their outstanding individual performances over the course of the season, with special congratulations to men’s captain Bruce Hamlin for winning the men’s individual title for the season:
Bruce Hamlin
Robert Abelson
Eric Barnum
Chad Kossar
Callan Space
Elizabeth Loftus
Both Men and Women take 3rd at Cornell Invitational
Feb 08, 2009
2/8/09
It would seem that the Cornell hosting weekends are setting a trend: A beautiful day for GS and wind and rain for the slalom the next day! Despite the warm weather and other elements both the Cornell men’s and women’s teams had solid weekends. The men were missing two (Eric Barnam and Rob Abelson) of their top performers this weekend, which just shows the depth of the Cornell men’s team. On Saturday at the GS Bruce Hamlin came away with a victory beating the entire field by almost half a second. Tucker Moffat finished 6th and Ryan Serell and David Quinzi finished back-to-back in 12th and 13th. On Sunday the men struggled with the weather conditions and many of the men had trouble putting together two runs, top finishers included: Bruce Hamlin 4th, Chad Kossar 15th and David Quinzi 16th. Bruce Hamlin was the overall winner of the weekend and the men took 3rd overall on the weekend.
The women had an outstanding race on Saturday at Greek Peak. The whole women’s field was extremely competitive with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place teams finishing within 4 seconds of each other! Top finishers for Cornell were Callan Space 6th, Liz Loftus 8th, Heather Merkis 14th and Katie Post in 15th. The slalom also proved to be a challenge for the women, top finisher Liz Loftus lost a ski first run and Heather Merkis had a very long hike. Finishing in 6th place again was Callan Space followed by Rebecca Smith (9th) and Katie Post (12th). The women ended up finishing in 3rd overall for the weekend.
The team would again like to thank everyone who came out and supported the team this past weekend. A special thanks to the Greek Peak Mountain crew and the Labrador Mountain crew for making the races go so smoothly this weekend!
Men have Individual Victories; Women take 3rd at Bristol
Feb 03, 2009
February 1, 2009
The Cornell men had an outstanding weekend racing at the University of Rochester invitational at Bristol, but they failed to have three men finish cleanly at Saturday’s GS, putting them into 3rd on the weekend. At Saturday’s GS, Bruce Hamlin walked away with a victory, Eric Barnum took 3rd and all of the other men hiked or did not see the finish that day. In Sunday’s SL, Robert Abelson was able to gain another victory for Cornell and his two teammates: Chad Kossar (6th) and Eric Barnum (7th) both had outstanding performances. Eric Barnum was a front runner on the weekend, taking 3rd overall on the entire weekend.
The theme of the Cornell women’s ski team is definitely consistency. This weekend proved to be no different, with all of the top girls putting up solid finishes for the weekend, leading them to 2nd place overall for the weekend. On Saturday they were lead by senior Callan Space (5th) along with junior Liz Loftus (7th) and the newest (freshman) addition to the team Robin Davenport (8th). After the GS on Saturday the women’s team was in first place. On Sunday, they were lead by Liz Loftus (5th) who showed off her ripping SL skills on the long first run, Callan Space (7th) who is battling a nasty case of bronchitis, and Robin Davenport (12th) who has continued to show improvement each SL race. Rebecca Smith had a standout second run, but was disqualified the first run, so look out for her in next weekends SL results.
Both teams are very excited about hosting this upcoming weekend. The men are looking to win not only the races but the weekend as well and the women are hoping that they can get another solid team finish. If you are interested on know how each individual placed each weekend please check out: http://www.live-timing.com/ and search any of the varsity men or women’s last names and the results will pop-up for all of the races (just click the race you want to view).
In addition the Cornell Ski Teams wants to give a little “shout out” to all of the fantastic parents and supporters that have helped us out at races this year!! Thanks for all of your support and generosity.
Men Take Swain Race, Women Solid in Fourth
Feb 03, 2009
1/23/09
Coming off of last weekend’s successes, this weekend the alpine team traveled to Swain Mountain with the goal of establishing themselves as the team to beat this season. The men started off strong on Saturday edging out Syracuse University for the win in the giant slalom by a margin of half a second. Captain Bruce Hamlin ’10 led the team with a 2nd place finish, followed closely by Robert Abelson ’11 in 3rd. Their podium finishes were supported by the strong drive of freshmen Eric Barnum ’12 and Ryan Serell ’12 who finished 8th and 11th respectively. The women skied a strong GS race, placing fourth as a team. They were led by top finishers Callan Space ’09 (9th), Liz Loftus ’10 (12th), and Robin Davenport ’12 (14th).
On Sunday,
the Cornell men were again a dominant force on the podium. Taking four out of
the top seven places, the team was again led by Abelson and Hamlin, taking 2nd
and 3rd respectively. The victory for the weekend was secured by
solid skiing from Barnum (6th), Chad Kossar ’10 (7th),
and Serell (12th). The women pulled out some spectacular skiing of
their own, finishing 4th in the slalom to place them in fourth for
the weekend. They were led by top 15 finishes from Loftus (7th), Davenport
(10th), and Space (11th). They were followed by two
strong runs from Katie Post ’09 and Heather Merkis (’10). The alpine team is
looking strongly towards next weekend, when they will be traveling to
Men's team takes first; Women take third at Ithaca College Opener
Jan 27, 2009
January 19, 2009
This weekend both the men's and women's team had strong finishes. The men's team is looking to dominate the circuit in central New York this year with its power house line-up comprised of: Bruce Hamlin ('10), Robert Abelson ('11), Ryan Serell ('12), Eric Barnum ('12), and Chad Kossar ('10). The women's team has a very good and consistent line-up as well: Callan Space ('09), Elizabeth Loftus ('10), Robin Davenport ('12), Rebecca Smith ('11), Katie Post ('09) and Heather Merkis ('10).
Braving frigid temperatures in Saturday's Giant Slalom race, all the men finished in the top 15, with Bruce Hamlin in second, Robert Abelson in third, and Ryan Serell in ninth. Also with strong performances were Eric Barnum (13th) and Chad Kossar (15th). The women also had a good start to the weekend with Robin Davenport placing eighth, Elizabeth Loftus in twelfth, and Callan Space in fifteenth, accompanied by Katie Post (17th) and Heather Merkis (21st).
The Men also dominated on Sunday and stayed in the number one spot for the weekend. Robert Abelson finished third, Bruce Hamlin came in forth, Ryan Serell placed eleventh and Chad Kossar and Eric Barnum both did not complete a run. The women were very consistent on Sunday in the slalom with Elizabeth Loftus in eighth, Callan Space in ninth, Rebecca Smith in eleventh, Robin Davenport in thirteenth, and Katie Post in sixteenth. They took third for the day, gaining third overall for the weekend as well. The team looks forward to taking this momentum into next weekend when they will travel to compete at Swain Mountain.