Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Former Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club member Lisa Perricone, a University of Colorado skier, finished fifth in the giant slalom at the 54th annual NCAA Skiing Championships on Thursday in Jackson, N.H.

Perricone, one of several racers with ties to Steamboat, finished with a two-run time of 2 minutes, 32.03 seconds, less than two seconds behind eventual winner Sarah Schaedler of Western State College.

Perricone's Colorado teammate and fellow former Winter Sports Club member Heidi Hillenbrand finished 18th in 2:36.19.

On the men's side, Steamboat's Drew Roberts - who also skis for the University of Colorado - finished 32nd with a time of 2:27.8. Fellow Buff and former Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club member Joshua Bryan finished 28th in 2:26.82.

Denver's Adam Cole won the men's giant slalom with a two-run time of 2:20.42. Dartmouth's Evan Weiss and Francesco Ghedina of the University of Denver finished in second and third, respectively.

On Wednesday, in the women's 5K Free Technique Nordic event, Sarah MacCarthy, a former Winter Sports Club member who now skis for the University of Utah, finished 38th with a time of 16:14.0.

A trio of Northern Michigan University skiers swept the women's Free Technique podium with Lindsey Williams leading the way with a time of 13:50.4. Morgan Smyth (14:06.6) and Lindsey Weier (14:08.3) finished in second and third, respectively.

In the men's 10K Free Technique, University of Denver's Rene Reisshauer, who finished fourth at last year's skiing championships after winning the 10K in 2005, was the only racer to crack the 25-minute mark with a time of 24:52.2. Utah's Snorri Einarsson finished second in 25:21.6, and Marius Korthauer of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks finished third with a time of 25:43.5.

After two days of racing, Dartmouth has the overall team lead with 330 points. The University of Denver is in second place (329), and the University of Utah (280), the University of Colorado (275) and the University of Vermont (211.5) round out the top five.

Action continues today with classical cross-country races. The women's 15K starts at 7 a.m., followed by the men's 15K at 9 a.m. The championships end Saturday with slalom races. The first runs are at 7 a.m. (men) and 8:15 a.m. (women). Second runs follow at 10:15 a.m. and 11:30, respectively.