Producing the best USCSA National Championship finishes in program history in March 2010, it would seem that the Clarkson University Alpine Ski could just ride the current talent to more trophies, but head coach Skip Fox brought in four freshmen that could immediately pay dividends for the Golden Knights in 2011.
The Knights’ women’s team posted their best-ever finish at the USCSA Nationals last year, placing 10th. Graduating just one skier, the team added two solid freshmen in Sarah Shafer (Petoskey, MI), a biology and pre-physical therapy major, and Emilie Garand (Yarmouth, ME), also a pre-physical therapy major. According to head coach Fox, the two should “will be great additions to our ladies team, and be able to contribute to the team’s continued success” in 2011. Shafer formerly skied at Nub’s Nob in Harbor Springs, MI, while Garand competed regularly at a familiar mountain to several former and current Golden Knights, Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, ME.
Clarkson’s men also lost just a single senior skier from 2010, and the team is coming off a sixth-place finish at the USCSA National Championships. While that roster could be a tough one to crack for the two newcomers, Fox is confident that the incoming talent can compete for spots on the weekend roster. Chris Gero (St. Albans, VT), an engineering and management major, and Christian Perryman (West Lebanon, NH), a mechanical engineering major, represent the Class of 2014 for the Knights’ men. Perryman polished his craft at the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme Center, NH, while Gero regularly hit the slopes at Mount Mansfield Ski Club in Stowe, VT.
