Sophomore Alena Tofte, meanwhile, earned a 31st place finish in the 5k free race and 35th in the 15k mass start race.

"It's the best collegiate skiers in the country, and she held up really well," said Nordic coach Chris City '94. "I think Alena skied pretty close to her best race both days. She went out early, and it was really hard to know [how she was doing]. She just had to put her head down. As it turned out, she was right in it with the bulk of the skiers. So that was phenomenal. What was great was that she went out and attacked it. She went out and skied her best."

It was a strong weekend all around for teams from the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association. The EISA had 10 teams represented at the 21-team event, and four—Dartmouth, the University of Vermont, the University of New Hampshire, and Middlebury—finished in the top 10. The Big Green led the charge with a third-place finish.

"I think there's a reputation that the west teams are stronger, and I think what we saw, particularly on Wednesday, was that that wasn't the case."

Harvard's coaches and athletes said that the experience will make all three Crimson athletes better skiers in the future.

"It's good for them to get their first NCAA championships under their belt," Mitchell said. "That way they go there again, it will be just another race. The result will take care of itself."

But results aside, this trip was special in that it happened at all. Nadler and Sheils were the first female alpine skiers ever to qualify for NCAAs, and Tofte was the first to compete since Anna McLoon '04.

"It was a really cool experience for all," Nadler said. "It was kind of cool to be making history."

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.