CARRABASSETT VALLEY – The University of Maine at Farmington women’s alpine team is heading to Bend, Oregon, after qualifying for the USCSA National Championships for the third consecutive year. The Beavers secured their spot by taking fourth place at the Eastern Regional Championship this weekend. The National Championships will begin on March 10th. After finishing fifth in the giant slalom on Saturday, the Beavers battled through snowy conditions on Sunday to place second in the slalom.
Farmington was led on the course by sophomore Elanore Robb (Woodbury, Minn.), who placed second individually at the event, marking the best individual finish in program history. Due to weather conditions, the skiers were only able to complete one run rather than the standard two for scoring purposes. Robb finished her lone run in 34.67 seconds, just 0.08 seconds behind Emilie Stone of Castleton for the top spot.
First-year Rosie St. Cyr (Pownal, Maine) and Hokulani Caroselli (Temple, Maine) backed Robb with strong performances. St. Cyr finished her run with a time of 35.92 seconds, while Caroselli completed hers in 36.62 seconds. St. Cyr placed ninth overall, while Caroselli finished 13th.
Together, Robb, St. Cyr, and Caroselli finished with a combined time of 1:47.21, earning 24 team points for their second-place finish. This marks the highest placement in program history for an Eastern Regional Championship event.
Although the Beavers were in a three-way tie for second place for the weekend, they ultimately finished fourth due to a tiebreaker. This fourth-place finish also marks a program first.
For the weekend, Robb finished as the fifth-ranked skier overall, with 42.78 race points. St. Cyr placed 16th with 107.64 points, Caroselli was ranked 20th with 121.74 points, Smith was 41st with 347.56 points, and Mahmood placed 46th with 606.17 points.
Fallon Smith (Nelson, N.H.) finished 49th on Sunday, while Grace Mahmood (Oxford, Conn.) placed 64th.
