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Date: March 8, 2003
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Lathrops finish in top five in slalom at NCAA meet

HANOVER, N.H. --

Two of the best NCAA Division I women's slalom skiers in the country have the last name Lathrop. Colby College first-year skier Jenny Lathrop (Green Mountain Valley/North Conway, N.H.) finished in second place and twin sister Abbi Lathrop (Green Mountain Valley/North Conway, N.H.) took fifth place in the slalom competition at the NCAA Division I Skiing Championships on Saturday at Dartmouth Skiway.

The Lathrop sisters earned first team All-America status for finishing in the top five. On Thursday, Abbi finished in eighth place and Jenny took 10th in the giant slalom to get second team All-America honors.

"Being in their first year in college and handling this type of pressure and competition was just awesome," Colby coach Mark Godomsky said. "We knew Jenny had a chance to win heading into the meet and she skied well. I thought Abbi could finish in the top 10 and she took fifth."

Colby, despite having no Nordic skiers in the competition, still finished 13th overall (alpine and Nordic together) with 237.5 points. University of Utah won the competition with 682 points.

Jenny Lathrop was the top American born skier in the event. University of Utah junior Lina Johansson, who is from Sweden, won the slalom with a two-run total time of 1:35.03. She finished a full second ahead of Jenny Lathrop, with runs of 49.19 and 45.84.

Jenny Lathrop was in second place after the first run after a 49.71 and then had a 46.31 the second time down the hill for a 1:36.02 total. Meanwhile, Abbi Lathrop was third after the first run with a 49.75 and then had a 47.46 for a 1:37.21 total.

The Lathrop sisters will head to the North American Trophy Series Championships next week near Calgary. The meet features most of the top skiers from the United States and Canada.

For the men, sophomore men's skier Robert Saunders (Rowland Hall-St. Marks/Park City, Utah) placed 15th in the slalom. He had a tough first run of 51.18 and was in 22nd place, but bounced back with a solid 53.05 to move up seven spots.

Charlie Reed (Winter Sports School/Park City, Utah) took 30th overall for the Colby men. After problems on his first run, Reed had a 54.59 in his second opportunity. Meanwhile, Warner Nickerson (New Hampton School/Tilton, N.H.) was disqualified after his first run of 1:03.82.