The St. Lawrence University Alpine ski team is set to open the 2022 EISA carnival season at the Bates College Carnival at Sunday River in Newry, Maine this Thursday and Friday, January 12-13.
 
The Scarlet and Brown hit the slopes in Vail, Colorado over Thanksgiving break and have been working on preseason training at Whiteface Mountain, since they returned from Christmas Break at the beginning of January.

Last season saw new growth and success for the Saints' Alpine team and the Scarlet and Brown bring back a well-rounded slate of returners, as well as promising newcomers to kick off the EISA season.

"As we head into the carnival season, I'm very excited to see what's in store for this winter," said head coach Willi Steinrotter. "The team worked hard in the off season and has made some big improvements since we began training."

Captains for the 2023 season include senior All-American skier Tommy Kenosh and classmate Rebecca Caron. Last season, Kenosh posted a season-best performance in the men's slalom at Dartmouth, finishing 11th overall. He also placed 14th in the slalom at UNH, finishing the season with four top-25 performances, while Caron was also a consistent performer for the Saints.

Helen Hume, Nelson Oxley and Chris Regan make up the rest of the Saints' Class of 2023 and will have a wealth of veteran knowledge to help guide the team through the season.
 
Also returning as a part of the Saints' junior class is Bella Amico, Victoria Cubina and Kobe Villeneuve.
 
Making up the Saints' sophomore class, returning for their second season, are Kennedy Bier, Lauren Cahill, Benni Caloro, Paige Doyle, Hugh Dempsey, Aidan Marler, Jake Reynolds, Mitch Sampson and Carson Taylor.

Reynolds posted an 18th-place finish in the giant slalom at UNH for his season best and also recorded a 25th-place finish at Saint Mike's in the giant slalom.

"The Saints also have a solid first-year class of eight that should be vying for carnival spots this season," said Steinrotter. The Saints Class of 2026 is made up of Mayson Blondek, Norah Dempsey, Audrey Higgins-Lopez, Madison McLaren, Cordelia Sherwood, Alec Nolan, Bobby Stevenish III and Andrew Van Slyke.

Over the course of the last three seasons, St. Lawrence has produced more top-10, top-20 and top-30 results from the year before and that's certainly something that the Saints will look to continue to improve on in 2023 as well.

This season opens at the Bates College Carnival this week and then will take the Scarlet and Brown to the Saint Michael's Carnival at Smugglers Notch and UNH at Cannon Mountain. The Saints will have the weekend off before opening February at Harvard Carnival on February 10-11. St. Lawrence will then head to Williams on February 17-18, before hosting their home carnival in Lake Placid, N.Y., which serves as the NCAA Eastern Regionals on February 24-25. This season, St. Lawrence was also selected to host the NCAA Skiing Championships from March 8-11.

Previously announced in October of 2020, the NCAA announced that St. Lawrence, in conjunction with the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), will host the 2023 NCAA Skiing Championships at Whiteface Mountain and Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, New York, home of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.

This will mark the third time that St. Lawrence has hosted the NCAA Skiing Championships; the Saints last hosted the event in 2015, and also served as host for the 1983 championships.

"We're proud and honored to be the site host for the 2023 NCAA Skiing Championships," said Senior Associate Vice President for Athletics Bob Durocher. "It is a great opportunity to showcase a high level of skiing, as well as the outstanding facilities that Lake Placid has to offer. It's also an extraordinary opportunity for all the student-athletes that will come to compete from across the country."

"Overall, I think we have a lot to look forward to this season," said Steinrotter. "We're eager to get the season started and we're equally excited to host the 2023 NCAA Championships in March."

Follow the links to check out the Saints' latest news, roster and schedule for the upcoming season.