LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Paced by a 20th-place effort from Mateo Gonzalez, the College of Idaho men's alpine ski team placed sixth overall in the giant slalom at the USCSA National Championships on the Olympic Hill at Whiteface Mountain.
Gonzalez, the Western Region bronze medalist in the slalom, recorded a two-run time of 2:11.06, helping C of I to their sixth-straight Top-10 finish in the giant slalom as team (6;37.82).
Rocky Mountain claimed the team title (6:21.70), just ahead of Sierra Nevada (6:22.32) and Babson College (6:22.46). Castleton (6:23.24) and Clarkson (6:32.49) rounded out the top-five. C of I finished ahead of Columbia, Colgate, Army, Cornell, Lehigh, Virginia, Connecticut and Stanford on the same run used during the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Jacopo Gelmetti made the Top-30 flip after the morning run and finished 25th (2:11.680, with
Trevor Trimble completing the C of I scoring trio in 33rd-place (2:15.07).
Jarod Esnoz placed 60th (2:30.92) to round out the Coyote finishers.
Robby Kelly of Castleton had the top time in both runs to earn gold medal honors (2:04.14), ahead of Jordan Cashman of Sierra Nevada (2:06.09) and Alexander Sehlberg of Rocky Mountain (2:06.55).
The USCSA has moved the slalom competition to tomorrow to beat an impending storm. Men's Run 1 set for 11 a.m. (EDT) Skier-X competition is now tentatively scheduled for Friday (weather permitting).
