Tufts continued its pace at Berkshire East in Western Massachusetts last weekend, but the women's ski team fell further behind their second place rivals Boston University, and seem set to finish third through the season.
The men's best skier was again freshman Andrew Benson, who placed first in both giant slalom (GS) and slalom. Sophomore co-captain Joseph Shaw placed 15th in GS and 18th in slalom.
The rest of the men's team was unable to get better than 39th place, however, meaning that second place Tufts fell further behind first place Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The gap between the two now sits at an insurmountable 31 points.
"We were missing Eric Johnson, which was disappointing," Shaw said about the men's poor team showing. The men's team got sixth in GS and seventh in slalom.
"Eric is usually our No. 2 guy, so it definitely hurt us."
Shaw was very pleased with freshman Juan Lois' 39th place finish in GS and freshman Yuichiro Okutsu's 40th place finish in slalom.
"That was really cool, they just started racing, so that really helped us," Shaw said.
Three of the teams top performers came through again this past weekend, with freshman Alex Nussbaum grabbing 10th in giant slalom and 14th in slalom; freshman Sarah Heath was 12th in GS and junior Lael Nelson took 18th in GS and 11th in slalom; and senior co captain Erin Johnson right behind with 19th in GS and a team winning eighth in slalom.
Despite a strong showing, the women were only able to grab third in both events, right behind BU's second place finishes, which expanded their lead over third place Tufts to 11 points.
Although Tufts' place will most likely remain steady until Regionals, Johnson said that the strength of the freshman class is going to mean an unbelievable team next year. As for this season, the improvement from race to race of the freshman skiers impresses her.
"[Nussbaum] has been our best GS skier this year, like something clicked for her skiing. She gets how to ski slalom now," Johnson said. Sarah Heath has been skiing consistently fast in GS now too."
Another high-scorer for the women's team, Kate Butler, did not race this weekend.
The team had to struggle against poor conditions this weekend. The slalom course was shorter than its average length due to a lack of snow coverage on the mountain.
The team has one more race before its season ends and it moves on to Regionals at Waterville, N.H., which they should be locked in for with the ircurrent standings.
Johnson said it is unsure right now whether the team will put in extra all day training sessions before Regionals like it did last year.
"We're definitely a young team with a good future," Johnson said. "It sounds so clich?© but it's true."
Johnson said that the women are looking to get back a few skiers next season, including currently injured junior Eliza Appert.
Shaw said that the amount of new skiers on the team has been a challenge, but that the spirit on the team is great this season.
"We were concerned because we had a lot of new guys, not a lot of guys coming back," Shaw said. "Everyone's been helping out in a different way."
Having Benson win nearly ever race this season has helped the team hold its second place in the division, Shaw said.
But with some skiers coming back from abroad next year, and some younger ones getting better, Shaw is excited about next season already.
"We're looking forward to having a little more depth next year," Shaw said.
