CANANDAIGUA, N.Y.— The William Smith College Alpine skiing team finished tied for first place at the USCSA Mideast Regional Championships this weekend at Bristol Mountain, punching their ticket to the USCSA National Championships on Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. March 6-11. The Herons tied with Colgate at 3 points each but ultimately won the tiebreaker with lower place points after taking second place in the giant slalom and first place in the slalom at Bristol Mountain.
William Smith produced three top-15 finishers in the overall regional standings, including a third place finish from senior Caraline Gray, with 53.47 race points. Finishing right behind Gray in fourth was sophomore Marjorie Plants with 58.36 race points. First-year Katherine Broderick finished in 14th with 143.49 race points. Gray, Plants and Broderick were all honored with season awards after the conclusion of the races. They were recognized in the top-10 fastest of the season, with Gray and Plants both making top-five.
In Saturday's giant slalom event, William Smith produced three top-10 finishers as the Herons grabbed second place, after posting a combined team time of 5:39.53. Gray led the Herons with a second place finish after clocking in at 1:51.90. With the second place finish, Gray now has eight top-five finishes on the season.
Plants continued to shine for the Herons, finishing in fourth place in the giant slalom. She stopped the clock at 1:53.28 to help William Smith to a second place finish. First-year Julia Bragg finished in seventh place after clocking in at 1:54.35, posting her third top-10 finish of the season.
William Smith responded on Sunday with a first-place finish in the slalom to grab first place in the overall team standings. In the slalom, the Herons posted a combined team time of 5:51.10, besting second place finisher, Colgate, by close to three full seconds.
Plants led the Herons in the slalom with another fourth-place finish after stopping the clock at 1:56.43. Finishing closely behind was Broderick in fifth, with a time of 1:56.99. Rounding out William Smith's top-10 finishers was Gray in eighth place, after clocking in at 1:57.68.
GIANT SLALOM TIMES
Caraline Gray- 1:51.90 (2)
Marjorie Plants- 1:53.28 (4)
Julia Bragg- 1:54.35 (7)
Ashley Byron- 1:57.43 (16)
Katherine Broderick- 2:02.03 (24)
SLALOM TIMES
Marjorie Plants- 1:56.43 (4)
Katherine Broderick- 1:56.99 (5)
Caraline Gray- 1:57.68 (8)
UP NEXT
William Smith will be back in action March 6-11, when it heads to Mammoth Lakes, Calif. to compete at the 2023 USCSA National Championships on Mammoth Mountain.
