Despite a late-season injury that left coaches wondering if she’d be able to compete at all, Rebecca Nadler defied the odds as Harvard’s sole competitor at the NCAA Skiing Championships at the Middlebury Snowbowl.
“I’m extremely proud of the effort that she put forward,” Crimson coach Tim Mitchell said. “It would be very easy to sell yourself short and cash it in and not give it everything you have.”
The junior, who was last year’s champion in the giant slalom, turned in an 18th-place finish in the event on Wednesday and finished 23rd in the slalom on Friday.
“I was really glad that I was able to be there,” Nadler said. “I gave it my all.”
Nadler finished the giant slalom course with a total time of 2:08.86 over her two runs, just under five seconds slower than the overall winner, Kristine Haugen of Denver. Haugen, a freshman who has seen action on the international stage on the Norwegian national team, swept the women’s alpine events, also winning the slalom race
Nadler’s first run of 1:04.93 placed her in 17th. Her second run of 1:03.93 set her back on spot but was not enough to catch the field.
Changing, tough conditions played a role in shuffling the final places of the skiers.
“The snow honestly was a little unpredictable this weekend,” Mitchell said. “It would be a little choppy in places, but then it would be soft and then you’d hit a hard spot. People were getting bounced around a lot.”
Two days later, Nadler returned to the slopes to compete in the slalom. Again, despite improvement between the first and second run—from 51.45 to 50.34—Nadler was unable to move up and finished in 23rd place overall.
Nadler has been a key competitor for the Crimson all season, with several top ten and podium finishes this winter.
“The week leading up to it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for,” Nadler said. “I was injured and didn’t feel as prepared as I could have been but I went and tried my best so I’m really happy with the effort I put into it. I know the results will come, hopefully a little better next year.”
—Staff writer Cordelia F. Mendez can be reached at cordeliamendez@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @CrimsonCordelia.
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