Impressed by the success of his freshman superstars, Jay O'Rere and Alan Watson, skiing coach Dick Friedman has shown he can do pretty well in tough competition, too.

Friedman placed fourth in both the slalom and grand slalom events in the youngest class of the National Veterans (over 26) Championship held March 15-17 at Waterville Valley.

The slalom event was taken by Al Hobart, a full-time skier, with a time of 89.1 seconds, 2.5 seconds faster than Friedman. "I would have been second in the grand slalom, but I went through a gate backwards," Friedman said. The Crimson coach finished with a time of 1:48.79. Frank Hurt, former Middlebury ski captain, won the grand slaloms in 1:45.63.

An unlucky break disqualified Friedman in the downhill event at the National Veterans. "I was really going, but I just fell on my can when my skis hit a rut," he said.

No such misfortune hampered him at the Eastern Veterans Championships of March 9, 10, at Bromley, Vermont.

Just three seconds slower than winner Tom Corcoran, a former Olympic skier, Friedman grabbed fourth place with a finishing time of 58 seconds. Flying through the gates in 90.5 seconds the coach snared a second in the slalom event, just 0.8 seconds off the winning time.