HANCOCK, Vt. -- Junior
Hannah West and sophomore
Arie van Vuuren led the Bates women and men respectively as the alpine skiing teams notched three top-30 finishes in the giant slalom Saturday at the Middlebury Carnival, which doubles as the NCAA East Regional.
West (Bend, Ore.) recorded the best finish among all Bobcat skiers for the second straight day, taking 16th out of 79 women with a two-run combined time of 2:11.97. West earned 29 carnival points and 15 NCAA points. Sophomore Daphne James (Sausalito, Calif.) finished 35th with a two-run combined time of 2:15.35, good for 13 carnival points. And senior captain Emma Finfer (Highland Park, Ill.) rounded out the scoring for the Bates women, taking 39th place with a two-run combined time of 2:15.97, earning 12 carnival points.
The Bobcat women finished seventh overall in the GS with 54 carnival points.
On the men's side, van Vuuren (Boulder, Colo.) finished 21st out of 82 skiers with his two-run combined time of 2:06.03. He earned 23 carnival points and 10 NCAA points. Junior Joe Gillis (Branford, Conn.) continued his strong season with another top-30 finish, coming in tied for 30th with a two-run combined time of 2:06.70, good for 17 carnival points and one NCAA point. Senior captain Michael Cooper (Alta, Calif.) rounded out the scoring for the men in 47th place, earning five carnival points with his two-run combined time of 2:08.45.
The Bobcat men finished ninth overall in the GS with 45 carnival points.
The Bates alpine skiing teams combined with the Nordic teams to score 381 points over the course of the two-day NCAA East Regional, good for 8th placed out of 20 schools competing. Bates finished 11 points ahead of ninth-place Harvard.
This marks the final carnival of the season for the Bates alpine skiing teams. Select Bobcats may earn a spot in the upcoming NCAA Championships, taking place March 11 and 13 at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman, Montana.