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Van Herwarde wins Slalom for Knights at West Mountain

Posted 2/10/15

Queensbury, NY - Sophomore Kara Van Herwarde became the first female member of the Clarkson University Alpine Ski team to win a race since the Golden Knights joined the MacConnell Division in 2012 as …

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Van Herwarde wins Slalom for Knights at West Mountain

Posted

Queensbury, NY - Sophomore Kara Van Herwarde became the first female member of the Clarkson University Alpine Ski team to win a race since the Golden Knights joined the MacConnell Division in 2012 as the Golden Knights enjoyed another strong weekend at the Castleton State Invitational held at West Mountain.

The Golden Knights' men finished first among 12 teams in the giant slalom on Saturday and then came in third of 13 squads in the slalom on Sunday, while the women placed second among 14 teams in the giant slalom on Saturday and matched the men's performance by coming in third out of 13 teams in the slalom on Sunday.

Van Herwarde had the top time in each of her two runs (45.08 first run, 43.87 second run) on Sunday in the slalom, finishing with a combined time of 1:28.95 for first place among 73 skiers. Juniors Taylor Manderson (12th) and Kelly Rowland (25th) closed out the team time and scoring by ending with times of 1:32.56 and 1:37.62, respectively. Freshmen Sonja Gagen (1:39.88) also came in 30th and Libby McCusker (2:09.64) took 59th. Racing as individuals, junior Ashley Yoviene placed 21st in 1:36.14 and sophomore Casey Abraham came in 23rd in 1:37.44

On Saturday, Van Herwarde again won the day for the Golden Knights, taking eighth out of 74 skiers with a time of 1:48.56 in the giant slalom. Including Van Herwarde, Clarkson had six skiers finish in the top 30 for the day. Casey Abraham placed 12th with a time of 1:49.37 and Taylor Manderson finished in 18th in 1:50.34 to complete the Knights' timing. Sonja Gagen came in 27th 1:52.70 and Kelly Rowland finished 47th in 1:58.04 among the other team participants, while Libby McCusker took 17th (1:50.05) and Ashley Yoviene placed 24th (1:51.15), racing as individuals.

The men delivered an overwhelming performance on Saturday to finish in first overall in the giant slalom, with all five first-team members placing in the top 12 out of 67 participants. Junior Sean Donohue led the way for the Knights by coming in third in 1:42.42 and freshman Greg Murray was barely behind in fourth place at 1:42.56. Junior Ian Williams (1:43.09) and senior Alex Slemp (1:43.35) finished eighth and ninth, respectively, while sophomore Hayes Lowth took 12th in 1:43.73. Clarkson's second team also produced solid results, led by freshman Asa Frankowski (1:44.51) in 15th. Christian Avery (1:45.43), Eli Greenwald (1:47.09) and Bryce Recer (1:50.31) also scored good times for the Knights.

On Sunday, all nine skiers finished in the top 40 for the day among 67 skiers, but the Knights slipped two spots in the team standings. Lowth took fourth with a time of 1:18.98 and Frankowski came in seventh in 1:19.48 as both jumped eight spaces in the standings from Saturday. Donohue had another top-10 day by coming in ninth with a time of 1:19.97 to close out the Clarkson timing, while Murray came in 12th (1:20.14) and Austin Florian placed 18th in 1:21.57. Clarkson's second team was consistently in the middle of the pack, led by Slemp in 23rd in 1:21.93. Christian Avery finished in 1:23.23 for 26th place while Greenwald (1:28.98) and Recer (1:30.48) came in 36th and 39th, respectively.