The Massachusetts' men's ski team finished its season with a solid showing at the USCSA National Championships over the weekend. Eliza Hawkins represented the women's team with a strong finish in the first day of racing, but had a tough time carrying the momentum into the second day.
The team started its weekend with the giant slalom on Thursday. Rush Hawkins was the top skier for the Minutemen. He came in eighth place with a total time of one minute,55 seconds.
Next for the men was Andrew Hawes, who placed 16th with a time of 1:57.93. Rounding out the top three for UMass was Alex Zahoruiko with a final time of 2:01.04. These times gave the team a fifth-place finish on the day and a great start to their weekend.
The men didn't fare so well on Saturday's slalom race. The top skier was Alex Zahoruiko, who came in 25th place with a final time of 1:38.82. A few spots behind him was Rush Hawkins in 33rd place in 1:41.47. In a distant third for the Minutemen was Travis Hopkins who placed 68th in a time of 1:56.62. These staggered finishes put UMass in 11th place at the end of the day.
Despite the rough day on Saturday, the men were still able to earn a fifth-place finish overall. They were only two spots behind fellow MacConnell Division school Boston College and they placed better than the other conference teams that competed.
Eliza Hawkins was set to defend her National Championship on Wednesday night's slalom race. She finished in third place overall with a time of 2:11.86. She was only two seconds behind the first-place skier and only .02 seconds behind the No. 2 skier.
She was sitting in fourth place after her first run. It started to look like she would fall from the top five when she stumbled early in her second run. She was able to keep her composure, however, and finish only a second slower than her first run. Coach Skip Fox told UMass Athletics that her ability to recover was "unbelievable". Hawkins talked about the fall with UMass Athletics.
"It actually seemed better than winning because everybody was so impressed by the move. There were so many ruts that I fell on my hip and my back. I slid down and somehow got up and didn't have a problem getting back into the course."
A combination of grace and acrobatics helped to save Hawkins on Wednesday, but lightning did not strike twice for her. In Friday's giant slalom, Hawkins was credited with a Did Not Finish (DNF) in her first run. This kept her from not only placing in the race but defending her National Championship.
The USCSA National Championships started off great for the Minutemen and for the lone Minutewoman, but things went downhill for the team and for Hawkins on the second day of racing. Both still had respectable finishes to their National competition and their postseasons.
Justin McGrail can be reached at jwmcgrai@student.umass.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!