The Michigan Tech Alpine Ski Team traveled to Marquette Mountain this weekend to complete at the Midwest Divisional championships, competing against schools from Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and others. The event is a qualifier for the National Championships.

The Men's team finished second in both the slalom and the giant slalom to finish second overall behind St. Olaf College. The team was lead by DJ Longhini in the slalom finishing in 8th place. Greg Goodman was the fast skier for Michigan Tech in the giant slalom finishing 5th. St. Olaf College won for the men.

The Women's team took a 9th place in the slalom and finished 9th in the giant slalom to finish 9th overall. Top skier for the women in the slalom was Jessica Wood finishing 22nd. Jessica was again the top skier for Tech in the giant slalom finishing 16th. Northern Michigan finished 1st for the women.

The Men will be competing at the National Championships, which will take place March 6-11 at Loon Mountain, New Hampshire. Last year the team placed 12th at Nationals.

Participation in this event is supported by the Office of Student Activities and the Parent's Fund of the Michigan Tech Fund and the Undergraduate Student Government.

(Extended copy)

In the first run of the Slalom the men had 5 excellent times (only 3 are needed for the total) 4 of which were in the top 18. They let it go a little more the second run and moved the top three up a couple of places.

Men Slalom 2-19-2000

1. Joachim Rasmussen St. Olaf 71.75s

2. Mike Gehl Marquette U. 72.71s

3. Josh Kinzer St. Olaf 73.73s

8. DJ Longhini MTU 74.73s

10. Chris Dehlin MTU 75.56s

15. George Peet MTU 77.31s

24. Troy Casteel MTU 79.50s

43. Gabe Stark MTU 85.19s

44. Todd Matelski MTU 85.48s

The Women skied solidly under difficult conditions. Many of the top women had problems but Michigan Tech finished all of their Skiers.

Women Slalom 2-19-2000

1. Michelle Murray NMU 81.03s

2. Emily Nelson St. Olaf 82.59s

3. Liz Welles NMU 83.32s

22. Jessica Wood MTU 97.32s

27. Stephanie Lemon MTU 98.37s

32. Jessica Erber MTU 99.61s

39. Renee Mallory MTU 102.19s

46. Jenelle Hejny MTU 105.17s

61. Julie Tipner MTU 124.69s

The Men's first run separated the competition quite well. The Michigan Tech men skied solidly but a very good performance by St. Olaf, finishing 1st through 4th put them ahead. Tech skied well in the second run but couldn't quite catch the powerful St. Olaf team. The top 6 men were either from St. Olaf or Michigan Tech.

Men GS 2-20-2000

1. Joachim Rasmussen St. Olaf 56.16s

2. Adam Olson St. Olaf 56.85s

3. Josh Kinzer St. Olaf 57.50s

5. Greg Goodman MTU 58.12s

6. Chris Dehlin MTU 58.33s

11. DJ Longhini MTU 58.81s

13. George Peet MTU 59.12s

In the women's gs Jessica Wood had continued her incredible improvement over the last race to finish 16th overall improving from an18th place first run.

Women GS 2-20-2000

1. Christy Salonen NMU 60.46s

2. Liz Welles NMU 61.16s

3. Emily Nelson St. Olaf 61.66s

16. Jessica Wood MTU 63.37s

32. Stephanie Lemon MTU 67.70s

35. Jessica Erber MTU 68.33s

46. Jenelle Hejny MTU 70.74 s

48. Renee Mallory MTU 71.47s

68. Julie Tipner MTU 82.49s

Submitted by

Peter Beaupre

Head Coach MTU Alpine Ski Team 482-7805 or beaupre@mtu.edu for more information

Team Web Site www.me.mtu.edu/~beaupre/team.html