With three carnival races under its belt for 2012, the alpine ski team is halfway through the season. Beginning with an intensive dry-land training program in November, the Mules have since left their mark on the slopes of Sunday River, Attitash and Stowe. “The first half of the season was very successful for the team,” said co-captain Marc Massie ’13. “We already have two girls qualified for nationals and numerous other teammates are well on their way to making it.” Along with success on the independent level, they have also been high in the standings as a team. In the overall scores for each weekend of races, Colby placed fifth, sixth and seventh out of 17 total teams.

Bates College hosted the first carnival of the season on Jan. 20 and 21. The women’s team set a high bar for the season by placing second in the slalom. Natalie Biedermann ’12 finished in fourth place (1:46.79), co-captain Cassady Roberts ’13 placed seventh (1:47.53) and Brittney Ziebell ’14 placed 23rd (1:54.45). First-year Sierra Leavitt ’15 was one place back in 24th with a time of 1:54.47. In the giant slalom, the Mules were seventh overall; Biedermann and Ziebell had the best results in 16th and 22nd, respectively. The men had a fifth-place score in both the slalom and giant slalom. Massie (12th), Will Randall ’14 (18th) and Brian Morgan ’12 (21st) were the only finishers in giant slalom. At the end of the day, all three men were in the top 25. In the slalom four men completed both runs—again, all four were in the top 25. Morgan was 13th (1:49.75), Jim Ryan ’14 was 17th (1:50.54), Matt McKenna ’14 was 20th (1:51.41) and Craig Marshall ’15 was 22nd (1:52.01).

At the University of New Hampshire Carnival, both teams slipped back into sixth place during the slalom races. Biedermann, Roberts and Ziebell once again led the women with the three fastest times of the day. Biedermann finished 11th, Roberts was in 17th place, and Ziebell finished one place back from the previous race in 24th. Marshall was the fastest for the Colby men and finished in 15th (1:38.33). Massie was close behind him with a time of 1:38.64. The giant slalom was cancelled due to an excess of snow and dangerous racing conditions.

This past weekend the Mules travelled to Vermont for the University of Vermont Carnival. Ziebell reported, “The conditions were great both days—beautiful conditions, beautiful weather.” During the slalom the women’s team was fifth, and the men finished seventh. They also captured several more impressive individual results. “The second run of the slalom was an eliminator,” Ziebell noted. “A lot of girls skied out. Those who finished moved up a lot.” With a time of 1:53.48 Roberts snagged eighth place overall. Ziebell took 18th (1:57.26), Katie Houser ’13 finished 28th (2:00.91), Jeanne Barthold ’15 was 32nd (2:02.76) and Devon Engle ’14 was 34th (2:03.65). Morgan, Ryan and Randall were the three male finishers for Colby. Morgan had the best finish in 16th with a time of 1:48.74, Ryan was right behind him in 18th (1:49.79), and Randall was 33rd (2:07.67).

Colby was less successful in the giant slalom. Randall and Morgan were the only finishers for the men’s team, which led to an 11th-place overall finish. On the other hand, the women’s team managed to get all six finishes and ended the day in sixth place. Biedermann pulled off another top-10 finish—eighth place with a time of 2:13.35. Roberts, Ziebell, Barthold and Engle all finished in the top thirty as well. The last three carnivals will be hosted by Dartmouth College, Williams College and Middlebury College. Encouraged by the early success of the team, Massie has high hopes for the rest of the season. “The second half of the season should be very exciting as our team keeps improving week by week,” he said.