Harris and Sklar-Heyn carve their way to the top
By Ryan Yeung, Managing Sports Editor
Despite the lack of snow this winter, the weather did not quash the enthusiasm of the ski team this January. The result was a number of solid performances for the Lord Jeffs. Their improvement during the season has been more than noticeable.

Fitzsimmons leads Jeffs

The men's team began its season in Bromley, Vt. with two seventh place finishes in both slalom and giant slalom. James Harris '02 paced the Jeffs in both meets as the top finisher. Ezra Gordon '04 finished second in the giant slalom for the Jeffs.

At Haystack, Vt., the Jeffs finished eighth in the slalom and sixth in giant slalom. Men's team club president Seth Fitzsimmons '02 was the pacesetter at this meet with Gordon finishing second among the Jeffs in the slalom.

In Canon, N.H., the men's team had one of its best weekends of the season with two sixth places performances, one in the slalom and one in the giant slalom. At this meet, Fitzsimmons was again the Jeffs' top skier in the slalom, with Harris the best in the giant slalom.

"Last year, Jay had problems finishing races, especially in slalom, cleanly, but those problems seem to have mostly disappeared, and he's been skiing fast and cleanly," said Fitzsimmons.

Kahn skies well in Vermont

The women's team was able to put together a number of consistent performances, while hitting their peak only recently. In Bromley, freshman phenom Sara Sklar-Heyn was the top Jeff in both the slalom and giant slalom races. In matching fashion, Megan Kahn '04 was second in both races.

A week later in Haystack, Vt., the results for these top two Jeff skiiers was the same. Sklar-Heyn has been so impressive that she is ranked 11th overall in the Thompson Division.

Their best performance of the season was, no doubt, this weekend in Canon, N.H. The Jeffs finished fourth, microseconds away from Boston University, in the giant slalom with Sklar-Heyn leading the way once again. Kelly Smith '04 finished second. In the slalom, the Jeffs finished sixth with the duo of Sklar-Heyn and Amy Randall '04 making the difference.

"[Sklar-Heyn] raced a number of years ago, but hasn't in a while. It's coming back all right; she placed third in giant slalom [at Canon] and has been skiing extremely well," said Fitzsimmons.

Both teams now head to Dartmouth Skiway, Vt. for another weekend of skiing against division rivals.

Issue 14, Submitted 2002-01-30 11:49:22