The Harvard men's and women's ski teams finished a tough season of competition against the superpowers of Division I last week, as both finished in the top ten at the eastern championships at Middlebury and Sunday River.

The teams earned the right to make a return appearance against the same competition next year.

The men qualified for the Middlebury championships after a strong showing at the Williams carnival a week earlier. Freshman Eric Klaussen took 14th in the giant slalom at Williamstown, while juniors Alan Hale, Tim Hofer and Phil Duff finished the slalom in good form to give the alpine team a fourth in that event and a fifth in the alpine combined.

Dave Rand braved both the cross-country and jumping contests, and landed first place in the Nordic combined event.

At Middlebury the following week, the men held on to their Division I status by finished in tenth place, ahead of challenging squads from Division II. Andy Demars, who paced the Nordic skiers with a 24th in cross country, and Dave Rand, who placed third in nordic combined, turned in fine individual performances.

The women's team also finished well at Middlebury, despite being forced to hitch-hike to the race after its car died five miles from the Snow Bowl. Top finishes for alpine skiers Kris Hodgkins and Vera Fatjova, and Nordic skier Judy Rubinowitz, qualified all three for the national championships, and gave the team seventh in the alpine competition and tenth overall.

The women compiled their best record of the season at the eastern championships at Sunday River the next weekend, finishing sixth overall.

The women had reason to be pleased with their record for their first season in Division I. Fatjova said, summing up the team's success, "I think we made it pretty clear that Division I is where we belong."

Two day after the eastern championships, Fatjova and Rubinowitz took off for the nationals at Red River, N.M. The alpine courses were close to unskiable, as less than half of the starters managed to finish the race. Both the slalom and giant slalom honors went to Tolil Forland, an Olympic bronze medalist from the University of Utah. Fatjova hung in on a tough slalom course to finish 28th.

Rubinowitz skied two phenomenal races. For starters, she finished fifth in the five-kilometer individual race, a little more than one minute behind the winner, Middlebury's Lindsay Putnam. Then, in the four-times-five-kilometer relay, Rubinowitz skied on a team of individual performers from various eastern schools. The team finished third, as Rubinowitz clocked the second-fastest individual time in the race.

With most team members returning next year, both squads anticipate exciting seasons. "It's hard work, but it's worth it. But if we have to ski gates at Widener again next year, I hope they put a lift in," one alpine team member said, summing up the season.