USCSA Press Release: Week 2 Alpine Recap

January 27, 2026

Photo credits: Tom Martin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jay Moyer
[email protected]

By Kaitlyn Frye

Eastern Conference
The Eastern Conference saw lots of action over the weekend, with races in every division.

In the Reynolds division, the men’s team of the University of Maine Farmington held the top spot in the GS race on Mittersil at Cannon Mountain. Lance Dolan took the top spot in the GS race, followed closely by teammate Sam Roy. Colin Rathbone, Logan Davis, and Jack Price of St. Joseph’s College of Maine took third, fourth, and eighth places respectively, helping St. Joseph’s to take second as a team. Alexander Wiseman of Bowdoin college snagged tenth, to assist Bowdoin to third place. 

Ironically, the slalom race at Lost Valley saw very similar results, with University of Maine Farmington in first, St. Joseph’s College of Maine in second, and Bowdoin in third. Sam Roy appeared again for University of Maine Farmington, this time to take first, followed by teammates Magnus Riggs in second and Chase Raven in fourth. St. Joseph’s College of Maine saw Price and Rathbone scoring high once again to take third and fifth, with Sam Plummer coming in at ninth. Kyle Pellerin of Bowdoin took seventh with a run of 1:02.83, less than a second behind both Colin Rathbone with a time of 1:02.09, and Edison Sleeper of University of Maine Farmington in sixth with a 1:02.24 time. 

It was another high scoring week in the books for the St. Joseph’s women's team. Friday’s GS race saw Megan Cook taking first with a red hot 1:28.44 combined time. Hannah Golden, Avalyn Beaudin, and Lily Anctil snagged consecutive spots in fifth, sixth, and seventh to cement another win for the team. University of Maine Farmington snatched second place, with Rosie St Cyr and Hokulani Caroselli placing back-to-back in third and fourth. Lauren Roy of University of Maine placed tenth, helping to lead her team to third. 

Cook and Golden led the women of St. Joseph’s to a slalom win two days later, placing third and fourth. This time they were joined by teammates Sienna Mack in fifth, and Reese Burke in seventh to round out their top four. Bowdoin was able to find a spot on the women’s platform during the slalom race, thanks to Eleanor Hoff in sixth, and Britte van Zadelhoff in twelfth. University of Maine found a leader in Abigail Goodspeed, who placed eighth, allowing the team to place third. Although the University of Maine at Farmington wasn’t able to find footing on the podium, Rosie St Cyr snatched up first place with a combined time of 1:05.67, a sound two seconds ahead of second place.

It was a busy weekend at the Middlebury Snowbowl over in Vermont, hosting the GS and slalom races for the McBrien division. During the men’s races, Logan Schwartz of the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) put another phenomenal weekend in the books, finishing first in both events. Also from USCGA, Noah Barnes placed second in slalom and fourth in GS. Ivan Luptak of Yale claimed bronze in both events, while his teammate Andrew McGuire also took fifth in both events. For Marist college, Benjamin Cook also had another strong weekend, finishing fourth in slalom, and second in GS, teammate Henry Merli placed seventh in slalom and sixth in GS, Peter Kearney took eighth in slalom. Finally, URI had strong racers in Will Chiarelli and Evan Fallon, who both placed top ten in both events, as well as JJ Wanek who took eighth in GS. 

Liva Olina and Mae Nephew of MIT stood out on the Middlebury slopes as well. Olina took first in slalom, and fifth in GS, while Nephew placed fourth and third respectively. Kelsey Callihan of Marist College showed out, placing first in the GS race, and second in slalom. Also from Marist, Lucia Kennedy grabbed sixth place in slalom, and eighth in GS, while teammate Elise McCleneghen took eighth in slalom. Finally, Anna Erb of the University of Rhode Island appeared on the podium in both events, taking bronze in slalom, and silver in GS. 

The MacConnell division held back-to-back slalom races at Proctor Academy. The men’s races saw Babson College take first place both days, with Elliot Michael Perretta, Asher Baron, and Niko Leunig sweeping the podium during their Friday race. Leunig placed first during the second race, this time followed by James Rosenbloom in third, and Perretta in fourth. Clarkson University placed second both races, and mirroring them, Castleton took third both days as well. 

The Castleton women’s team stepped forward to take first place both days, and Elizabeth Worster had an incredible weekend finishing first on the Friday race, and second during the Saturday race. On Friday, she was joined by teammates Emilie Reinert Stene in third, and Andrea Rodriguez Elosegui in fourth. Babson College placed second in the first race, with a second-place run from Quinn Dennehy, and a fifth place run from Julia Wiacek. University of Connecticut was third, with high scoring runs from Hadley Prewitt, Abigail Horning, and Regan Chandler. During the race Saturday, all three appeared at the top of the team’s roster again, this time earning the team second place. Also on Saturday, Clarkson finally appeared on the women’s podium at third, thanks to strong races from Hannah Goetz, Charlotte Talbot, and Parker Seitzer. Julia Wiacek of Babson College came in first during the second race with a blistering time of 1:33.68, although Babson could not crack the podium this time around. 

Midwest Conference
In the Midwest Conference, the Lake Superior and Chicago Division kicked off their first races of the season at Wild Mountain. 

Northern Michigan University arrived at their first races of the season, ready to show up and show out. During the men’s races, Northern Michigan University dominated occupying seven of the top ten spots in the GS race and eight of the top ten spots in slalom, to cleanly secure the gold. Kyan Hopke led the way for the team in slalom, placing first, and Reed Heathman was the fastest racer during the GS race in second. Heathman was beaten only by Jackson Reents of St. Olaf College, leading his team to second. Michigan Technological University rounded out the podium for GS, with Connor Truman, Simon Bartos, and Everett Baetens supporting the team. St. Olaf College took second place again during the slalom course, with Jackson placing sixth this time, just 0.07 seconds after teammate Tate WIlker. Michigan Technological University once again took third. 

Northern Michigan University women’s team also arrived at their first races of the season, and took seven of the top ten spots during their GS race, and four of the top ten spots during slalom. Tommie Jo Springer led her team by placing first in both events. St. Olaf college swooped in to take silver during both events, with Jessica Stanton placing fourth in slalom, and sixth in GS. During the slalom race, she was assisted by Eloise Backer, and Winter Johnson in sixth and ninth places, and Winter Johnson gave the team an additional edge in GS, placing fifth. Michigan Technological University took third place during the GS race, although during slalom they were knocked all the way down to fifth, and replaced by University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

Atlantic Highlands Conference
James Lahrman of the United States Military Academy (USMA) took first during the GS race at Blue Mountain, followed by Eben Gifford of Lehigh, and Andrew Rosen of Princeton. Camden Collins, Aaron Martin, and Nathan Driker all placed in the top ten to help Lehigh take first place, and Levi Halley and Callum Donovan assisted USMA into second. With a fourth-place run from Mathias Habal-Shore, an eighth place run from Augie Goldberg, Columbia University was able to secure third. 

During the slalom race, USMA was able to knock Lehigh down to second, and assert themselves at the top. Lahrman, Halley, and Donovan all had another round of strong racing, placing first, fifth, and seventh respectively. Lehigh was still close behind them, with Martin, Gifford, and Driker appearing again to take second, fourth, and ninth. Columbia University took third again, but it was Timothy Teguis from Fairfield University who shone by placing third individually, bringing the Fairfield team into fourth. 

The Columbia University women’s team took home the gold this week, with a third place finish by Emma Baltrusaitis, as well as strong runs by Meryl Sampson and Schuyler Daffey. USMA snagged second, with Paige Barta and a second place. They were followed by Rutgers at third, assisted by a fourth place run by Kylie Samuelsen and a tenth place run by Daria Skrzypczak. This was a race filled with many  other strong competitors, and saw a first place finish from Abi Masillo of Lehigh University, a fifth place finish from Sophie O’Connor of Princeton, a sixth place finish from Katelyn Paliwoda of Fairfield, a seventh place finish from Lily Gouse of Lafayette University, and a ninth place finish from Charlotte Takac of Drexel.

The slalom race saw Masillo placing first race yet again, with O’Connor taking third, Gouse at fourth, Paliwoda at eighth, and Katrina Kajenski making a strong bid for Fairfield at tenth. However, this still wasn’t enough for any of their respective teams to crack the podium, which was stolen by Kylie Samuelsen and Rutgers, with assistance from Katia Cabrera at ninth, and Brooke Jorgensen at ninth. Cora Nephew had a sixth place finish, allowing USMA to take second place, and Drexel University was able to take third, with Takac finishing fifth. 

Allegheny Conference
Penn State University made a strong claim on first place during the first Allegheny GS race at Swain Resort, with Shayan Gupta placing third, followed by Thomas LaFalce at fourth, Maddox Lee at sixth, Quinn Hughes at seventh, Benjamin Sonkin at eighth, and many of their other teammates coming in close behind them to secure the win. Villanova swooped in for second, with Caleb Goldstein taking fifth, and Charles Hurchalla and Peter Murray adding their own runs to the bid for Villanova. Carnegie Mellon University managed to find the podium as well, with consistent skiing from racers Matteo Perillo, Aidan Smith, and Charlie Nutbrown. Noah Richert of Messiah University had a strong weekend as well, taking second place in GS.

Allegheny held a second GS race the next day, where Richert appeared again to take third this time. Many of the top racers from Penn State University appeared in the top ten again, including Gupta, LaFalce, Lee, Hughes, and Sonkin. Villanova and Carnegie Mellon both went for the repeat silver and bronze respectively. Villanova saw Goldstein take seventh, Hurchalla at ninth, and Murray at tenth. Meanwhile, despite not starting the first race, Beck Wagner from Carnegie Mellon was able to find solid footing at thirteenth, ahead of teammates Perillo, Smith, and Nutbrown. 

Meanwhile, the Penn State University women came to dominate the top ten, holding seven of the top ten individual race times during the Allegheny women’s slalom race. They were led by Zoe Parizek in first, to solidify another gold medal finish for the team. The three spots inside the top ten not occupied by Pennsylvania were claimed by Molly Burns of West Virginia University at second, and Katrina Mayen and Lara Villard of Carnegie Mellon at seventh and eighth. The Carnegie Mellon team snagged second place, and West Virginia University took home third. 
 
During the GS race, Zoe Parizek once again led the way to a win for the Penn State team, three seconds of combined time ahead of teammate Carolyn Mole in second place. It seemed that everyone was ready for a repeat performance in this race, as Penn State once again occupied seven of the top ten spots, and Carnegie Mellon and West Virginia again took silver and bronze. Villard and Mayen appeared again for Carnegie Mellon, this time placing eighth and ninth respectively, and Burns placed third for West Virginia. 

Mideast Conference
Will Patton paved the way for Hobart and William Smith Colleges to take first during the Mideast GS competition at West Mountain, placing first with a combined time of 2:01.53. Ethan Hine, Luke Ward, Jake Labanowski, and Rex Eidlin all put out strong bids for the team as well. Racing for Cornell University ,Moksh Patel placed fifth, followed by Antoine Marc at sixth, and Lukas Schemmel at tenth, allowing the Cornell team to place second. Cole Sachs of Colgate University did well, taking second place, and leading Colgate to third. Justin Shafritz of Skidmore was the only competitor not from one of the top three schools to place in the top ten, coming in at fourth place. 

Hobart and William Smith took first again during slalom, with Patton once again coming in first place, and Ward coming in eighth, this time assisted by strong runs from Zachary Wargo, who took sixth place. Patel, Marc, and Schemmel once again did well for Cornell, at second, fourth, and tenth respectively, and Cornell found itself once again at silver. Colgate took third for the second time, with Sachs this time placing fifth. Shafritz of Skidmore once again found himself in the top ten, placing third, this time joined by Ian Seelert of Hamilton at seventh.

Although Aspen McAuley had a speedy first-place run during the women’s GS race for Hobart and William Smith Colleges, her team only took second place. They were overshadowed instead by Colgate University, who had two sets of back-to-back racers, in Kate Goodrich and Charlotte Morris at second and third, and Carissa Dunlap and Maylia Lohman at sixth and seventh. Charlotte Osgood placed fourth, and teammate Dana Schwartz took ninth, both runs allowing for Hamilton to swoop in and claim the final spot on the podium.

During the slalom race that followed, Colgate added another gold medal to their collection, with Goodrich this time coming in second, Morris in fourth, Lohman in tenth, and Kaitlyn Willett joining them at eighth. Aspen McAuley placed in first again, joined by teammates Kate Broderick in sixth, and Mia Crivelli at ninth, but it was still only enough for the team to take second. Hamilton College took third again, and saw Osgood and Schwartz improving to third and fifth. Abigail Miller of Cornell snatched up seventh with the fastest time on her team. 

Grand Teton Conference
It was a busy weekend at Winter Park, who hosted both the Rocky Mountain conference and Grand Teton conference slalom and GS races. 

The Grand Teton races saw Rocky Mountain College taking the edge over University of Utah in all four races, for both the mens and womens teams in both events. Gaustad Kvinlog Synne of Rocky Mountain college placed first in both women’s races, followed closely by teammate Elisabeth Grimkelsrud by 0.02 of a second during the slalom race. Paige Petersen was the top racer for the Utah team during slalom, placing second with a time of 1:42.51. Sienna Hendrickson led Utah during the GS race, putting up a 2:21.71 combined time, for fourth place. 

As for the men’s races, Jules Clerice, Fredrik Straume, and Casas Torres swept the podium during slalom for Rocky Mountain College, followed by TJ Weaver of Utah in fourth. During the GS race, Straume took first, this time followed by Clerice, and Nick Hansen Tibro to round out the podium for Rocky Mountain. However Utah still made a strong bid for their team, seeing Andrew Jacobs, Frank Brandt, John Scanlan, Domenico Lazzareschi, and Markus Hirsbrunner-Reist taking fourth through eighth, in order. 

Rocky Mountain Conference
As for the Rocky Mountain Conference races that took place simultaneously at Winter Park, it was the University of Colorado Boulder women’s team who came in to sweep the gold in both slalom and GS. Seven of the racers for UC Boulder placed in the top ten in slalom, with Kacey Benjamin, Jenna Blatchford, and Annika Ort taking first, second, and third place. University of Denver claimed second, led by Evi Barber in fifth, and Colorado State University was able to take third thanks to efforts by Zia Szabadi, Sofie Kaaen, and Mackenzie Louthan-Green. Racing for the Air Force Academy, Grace Venverloh was out to make a name for herself, taking fourth in both slalom and GS races. 

Two more standouts this week were racer Gracey Henning of Colorado Mesa University, who placed third, and Ashley Hubery of Colorado School of Mines at sixth. However, the team standings saw University of Colorado Boulder yet again being followed by Colorado State University, this time moving up to second place, knocking the University of Denver down to third. It was Sydney Kraabel this time, who took first individually for UC Boulder, followed by Blatchford in second, and Elizabeth Lipscomb in seventh.

During the men's races, it was the Colorado School of Mines that was able to shine, taking first in both events. Schuyler Clapp took fifth in slalom and first in GS, and Clayton Surber followed him, placing eighth in both events. 

Teammates Dylan Kelly, Walter Lurie, and Jasper Schmidt placed second, sixth, and seventh in slalom respectively, allowing the University of Colorado Boulder to snag second. The United States Air Force Academy followed behind in third, with racers Tyler Bartick and Luke Kirchmayr placing in third and fourth individually. Spencer Peterson raced well for Colorado State University, with a time of 1:34.67, enough for an individual first place, although it was not enough to bring his team up from seventh place.

During the GS race, Air Force Academy racers Cannon Parsons and Luke Kirchmayr competed for second and third respectively, although it wasn’t enough to catch Schuyler Clapp and the Colorado School of Mines. The Air Force Academy took second instead. Fynn Fischer, Dylan Thompson, Dylan Kelly, and James McNamar placed fourth, sixth, seventh, and ninth respectively, in order for University of Colorado Boulder to take the final place on the podium in third. 

Southeast Conference
The Southeast Conference men’s slalom race at Sugar Mountain, North Carolina saw Lees-McRae college take first. Hunter Post took first individually, and teammates Corey Goldberg and Max Ligman placed back-to-back at sixth and seventh for Lees-McRae. University of Virginia followed behind, with Bradley Babitch placing second, with Tao Groves and Kieran Perdue chipping in for the team also. Tannor Fitzpatrick and Eric Cieszkowsk placed fourth and fifth for Virginia Tech, and the team placed third. However, there were a variety of standout racers, including Matteo Del Poeta of Georgetown University placing third, Luke Ramsdell of University of North Carolina at Charlotte placing eighth, and Nolan Walls of Appalachian State University placing tenth. 

During the GS race, Derin Berkin of Georgia Institute of Technology whistled into first with a 50.92 second combined time. Post appeared once again for Lees-McRae College, this time placing individually at third. Miles Whisner of Washington and Lee University took fourth, and Del Poeta took eighth place during the GS event. However, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were the top three teams. John Kim, Alexander Riley, and Bradley Babitch raced well for UVA, allowing them to take first. Virginia Tech followed them, with Regan Kelly and Tannor Fitzpatrick leading the team. Finally, Ben Cerreta took second place, and James Dowd took sixth, to bring UNC into third place. 

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