Wildcat Slalom - Season Ender

First, a special thanks to the many parents that came to the slalom and GS to show their support for our team. As Coach Van Slyke noted: "I have never been this well fed a a ski race - ever." The Sally's pizza, chili, barbeque chicken, deli sandwiches, bagels, brownies, and everything else made for an excellent meal for the athletes throughout the day. Thank you to the parents that traveled especially long distances (think Maryland, California, Seattle) just to come to this event! A shout out to the all the parents that helped out this weekend and provided for our athletes and coaches. We were glad to have you there and look forward to having you at the many races to come next year.

As for the slalom it was not our strongest day for our women, but we certainly pulled through. We started the day without top skiers Elisa Handbury and Emily Simmons. For Krista Consiglio '11 and Blaine Martin '11, the day proved to be a strong one. Krista took a 2nd place finish and Blaine pulled down a solid 14th place finish. A tricky course set on the second run proved treac

herous for Kia Mosenthal with a short hike near the top of the course. Seniors Anna Bengtson and Susan Kovar sported the traditional costume for the final race in plenty of style. See photo above. 

We also were joined by a former ski teamer Lorenzo Majno '79 who helped out our gatekeeping section with heroic efforts to keep a rutted up course smooth and make sure the gates were in place. Thanks for making the effort to come all the way up to Wildcat!

The men's team posted several personal bests, in addition to tying MIT for 8th place for the season. Ken Ettinger '10 and Alex Salter '12 both laid down their best slalom runs of the season. Jeff Ernsting accomplished his goal for the year by placing in 27th.  Rob Culliton finished the season for the league with a run to remember. As the last racer down, the top of the course broke out into overwhelming cheers as he stood in the gate. Never one to play down his abilities, Rob encouraged the cheering. Ultimately, he was followed down the entire course by cheers of good will for another great season in USCSA.

The season ended strong for Brown. The women finished in 4th place. The men tied for 8th. And, Mike LeBlanc finished the season as the McConnell Division Coach of the Year. Congratulations to Mike and to all of the athletes as well! Thank you all for your hard work.