"Occasionally I pretend I'm from Dartmouth and turn into an animal--but that's only when I'm racing," Eric Jewett said yesterday after his two first-place finishes last week led Harvard to its first triumph in a ski meet in almost ten years.

Jewett's animal instincts carried him to a two-heat time of 86.79 seconds in the slalom and he took the giant slalom as well on Haystack Mountain's hardpacked course.

"I was riding a momentous wave of psychic energy provided to me by members of the ski team and intimate friends," Jewett said.

Johnson State and Bowdoin College finished second and third respectively in the meet, which also included ski jumping and cross country competition.

Harvard coach Dave Hubbard, who took over at the beginning of the season, said the victory "helps team confidence." He noted that Jewett has "really been picking up steam lately."

Jewett commented that he "hasn't skied as well since my junior year of high school. I'm using up most of my mental energy on skiing these days," he said.

Captain Dick Raines also was in good form. He copped a second in the giant slalom and a third in the slslom.

In Friday morning's ski jumping competition, Harvard's Scott Woodward landed in third while Tom Cavin dropped into seventh place. Cavin had the longest jump of the day but lost points on form.

In the cross-country meet, Peter Dillon took fifth, John Hunter seventh, Ken Houston eighth and Andy DeMars, a freshman, twelfth. Falling snow resulted in a slow track.

Hubbard said the team is looking forward to next month's race. "This will really show us where we stand against the big ski powers--Dartmouth, Vermont and Middlebury," he said.

In explaining why Harvard went so long without an overall victory in a meet, Hubbard said, "Of all the skiing schools on a major scale we are at the bottom of the heap for getting training."

The Radcliffe ski team participated in its first league competition Saturday and Sunday at the Mittersill ski area, taking third place overall.

Lennie Wilson streaked home first in the giant slalom and third in the slalom. Kathy States, a freshman, nabbed a second in the giant slalom.

"Judging from this first race, there's definite potential to win the whole thing this year," Nicole Bourgeois, the 'Cliffe captain, said yesterday.