Bristol, NY - Despite some crashes that left both teams dangerously close to not qualifying, the Clarkson University Alpine Ski teams came away with pairs of first place finishes in the giant slalom on day one and the slalom on day two at the USCSA Mideast Regionals at Bristol Mountain.
The Golden Knights' menfinished first in the giant slalom with a cumulative top-three time of 5:44.90, taking the top spot among 12 teams, while the women claimed first with a time of 6:15.52 among 13 squads. The following day, Clarkson claimed first again in both the men's slalom and women's slalom events
Sophomore JP Phaneuf (Montreal, QUE) was the top competitor for the Knights, taking first in the giant with a time of 1:52.45. Classmates Cedrik Proteau-Dubois (Ste-Adele, QUE) and John Bennett (Queensbury, NY) finished back-to-back in eighth and ninth place, respectively, to round out the top three. Freshman David Simon (Montvale, NJ) and Drew Bonner (Killington, VT) did not finish.
For the women, none of the Knights ranked in the top five, but their consistent quality still allowed the team to claim first overall. Sophomore Sophie LeBlanc (Cumberland, ME) finished sixth overall with a time of 2:03.53, followed by classmate Jill Clevenger (LaGrangeville, NY) in seventh place. Freshman Katherine Jondro (Waitsfield, VT) took ninth. Junior Meghan Cleason (Canandaigua, NY) had a solid start with an eighth-place showing in the first run, but a crash at the bottom of the run saw her sustain a minor injury that didn't allow her to make a second run. Senior Emma Masur (Wayne, NJ) also did not finish both runs.
On day two, the Knights were equally impressive as David Simon finished first in the slalom with a time of 1:46.24. Temmates JP Phaneuf and Cedrik Proteau-Dubois rounded out the scoring with four and six place finishes. Sophomore Bill O'Connor (Mahopac, NY) was 16th and Bonner finished 18th.
While the women didn't take first-place in the slalom individually, the top three finished well enough ahead to claim first again. LeBlanc paced the Knights and finished fourth in the field with a time of 1:58.64, followed up by classmate Clevenger with a time of 2:01.36 in fifth. Senior Emma Masur finished 22nd and kept Clarkson in the top spot.
