MAMMOTH LAKES, CALIF.— In its first season as a varsity sport, the William Smith College Alpine skiing team finished in third place at the USCSA National Championships after producing two top-15 finishers in the slalom event on Mammoth Mountain. Sophomore Marjorie Plants led the Herons with a fifth-place finish, followed by a 15th place finish from senior Caraline Gray. With the strong finishes, Plants earned first team All-American honors while Gray was named to the All-American second team.

What was supposed to be a five-day competition with three different events turned out to be a one-run competition thanks to almost nine feet of snow as well as 70+ mph winds over the past three days. William Smith skiers prepared to participate in two runs of giant slalom, two runs of slalom and two runs of dual slalom but due to severe weather conditions on Mammoth Mountain, the only event that successfully took place was one slalom run on Wednesday morning.

In Wednesday morning's slalom run, Plants led the Herons with an impressive fifth place finish out of 132 racers. She stopped the clock at 46.95, just 1.87 seconds behind first place finisher and national champion, Reagan Olli from Northern Michigan University. Gray clocked in at 48.78 to grab 15th place, which helped the Herons clinch third place overall with a combined team time of 2:29.77.

First-year Katherine Broderick completed the top-three Heron finishers in the slalom event, posting a time of 54.05, while grabbing 46th place. Juniors Ashley Byron and Emilie Waters finished in 60th and 69th place, respectively, after posting times of 55.46 and 57.63.

COACHES CORNER

"The William Smith ladies performed above and beyond any realistic expectation," Head Coach Dale Solotruck said. "This is an accomplishment that is extremely rare at this level of competition. For a first year program to finish third at a national championship, well, I can't recall when it has happened. This is a truly fantastic achievement, and I couldn't be more proud of the girls!"

SLALOM TIMES
Marjorie Plants- 46.94 (5)
Caraline Gray- 48.78 (15)
Katherine Broderick- 54.05 (46)
Ashley Byron- 55.46 (60)
Emilie Waters- 57.63 (69)