The men’s and women’s Alpine Skiing teams recently completed their regular seasons and now look to prepare for the NCAA East Regionals hosted by Middlebury College this weekend. They wrapped up the regular season with carnivals at home and at Williams College this month.

At the Bates Carnival, which took place at Sunday River, sophomore Tess Coutu ’22 and junior Maex Schneider ’21 led the way on the first day, placing 27th and 30th out of 74 total competitors. Sophomore Daphne James ’22 and junior Hannah West ’21 followed closely behind Coutu, finishing 28th and 30th themselves. Junior Joe Gillis ’21 was the only other skier on the men’s side to finish both runs on the day and he ended with a 33rd place finish.

On day two of the Bates Carnival, sophomore Arie van Vuuren ’22 led the men’s team to a 4th place finish out of 12 behind his first career top-10 carnival finish. Joe Gillis ’21 followed closely behind, finishing in 11th place and earning Bates 29 team points and 24 NCAA Championship qualifying points.

Rounding out the scoring for the men’s team was first-year Crawford Jones ’23 who placed 26th – a personal best. This helped the team finish the day with 77 carnival points, outscoring 8 other teams.

On the women’s side, Hannah West ’21 helped earn the Bobcats a 7th place finish. She matched her best ever carnival finish, placing 11th out of 72 in the women’s GS. Sophomores Tess Coutu ’22 and Sarah Gillis ’22 placed 21st and 33rd, respectively, earning 62 carnival points and a solid 7th place finish.

Just two short weeks later, Bates traveled to western Massachusetts to participate in the Williams College Carnival held at Jiminy Peak. On the first day the men’s team was again led by van Vuuren who placed 14th out of 70 after his two runs. He was followed by senior Michael Cooper ’20 in 24th, Joe Gillis in 31st, and senior Ryan Clermont ’20 in 33rd.

Hannah West ’21 again led the women’s team, placing 21st out of 74 skiers. First-year Grace Schierwagen ’23 and Daphne James ’22 rounded out the scoring for the Bobcats, placing 43rd and 44th, respectively. Coutu ’22 led the way on day 2, claiming 26th place, while Schierwagen and James placed 32nd and 40th to earn points as well.

Arie van Vuuren ’22 led the men again on the second day, earning 22 carnival points for his 22nd place finish. Michael Cooper ’20 and Maex Schneider ’21 each earned points for their 28th and 30th place finishes, putting Bates in 7th place to end the weekend.

This weekend the alpine ski teams will head to Vermont for the NCAA East Regional, an event hosted by Bates last season where they finished in 7th out of 14 teams. Two weeks later the Bobcats will send a few skiers to Bozeman, Montana to compete in the NCAA National Collegiate Championship.