Ski Racing - March 26, 2012

A Tale of Two Trophies

Vermont’s Amy Glen narrowly edges out Dartmouth’s Sophie Caldwell.

Harvard’s Rebecca Nadler makes history in the giant slalom.

again this year. But her two teammates came down with food poisoning just days before the races began, and they never recovered in time to produce supporting results. The alpine team’s slalom performances also fell short of expectations, and those two strokes of bad luck severely handicapped the Utes, who had seemed to cruise through most of the winter with good luck on their side. Colorado made an impressive move on the final day to rival Utah for the position of runner-up, but came up short by a single point and placed third overall. They still departed with freshman Adam Zika’s individual title in giant slalom and Erika Ghent’s podium in slalom as well as the closest finish to the Utes all season.

Northern Michigan University’s Erik Soderman skates to the win.

The Vermont men’s alpine captain, Colton Hardy, is not listed on results from NCAAs, but he endured more than maybe any other Catamount to secure the title. In the fall, his mother’s home in Jamaica, Vt., was swept away by Tropical Storm Irene floods along with most of the family’s possessions — including the 2005 NCAA giant slalom trophy that his brother, Greg Hardy, had won while racing for UVM.

“Greg was spending eight hours a day specifically looking for that trophy,” said Colton. “I never said it to him, but the whole time I was thinking, ‘You’re never going to find it, man; it’s definitely gone.’” Amazingly, Greg’s trophy was eventually found buried in sand three miles away from their property by neighbor Missy Buffom, who promptly returned it.

Colton always wanted an individual title like his brother, but even in his senior year as captain he was unlikely to ski many carnivals. Alpine coach Johnny Davidson was on the Vermont team with Greg and then trained Colton. “What impressed me most about Colton was that even when the writing was on the wall that he wasn’t going to get many starts this year, he still showed up to practice every day trying to get better,” said Davidson. “He was always psyched for the team over himself.” At the UVM Carnival slalom, Colton posted the top team result in ninth. Two weekends later, he earned a spot on the roster for Williams.

Greg was thrilled with his alma mater’s victory as well as his brother’s off-the-radar contributions. “I know how hard Colton has worked since he was 9,” said Greg. “No one deserves this more than him.” Whose trophy counts for more in the sibling rivalry? “My individual trophy is awfully small compared to Colton’s — that team trophy is huge!” said Greg.

Colton maintained modesty by adding, “Now that we have both an individual title and team title in the family, it caps off what I always wanted.” Hats off to those Green Mountain Hardy Boys.