Liebman places second as Skiing takes ninth

Although the Penn women's ski team returned home Sunday from regional championships in Seven Springs, Pa., without capturing the title, it was certainly not due to lack of effort. In a weekend plagued by bad luck for the Quakers, the team still managed to finish a respectable ninth out of the 16 schools present. Unfortunately for the team, the Quakers found themselves at a disadvantage from the beginning. Although they had the opportunity to send five members, the Red and Blue were only able to bring four skiers to regionals -- team captains Georgia Liebman and Andrea Oettinger, senior Caroline Simonds and junior Samantha Evian. "Each skier had to have attended at least two other races this year to be eligible," senior team president Dan Lowen said. "Because we only had four skiers, that did make it tougher. It's just bad luck we finished as low as we did." The lack of a full squad substantially hurt the team's chances early on. During Saturday's second giant slalom run, Evian fell and Simonds lost a ski, preventing both from posting times for the Red and Blue. This meant Penn could only enter two times for the giant slalom -- putting a shot at a top finish virtually out of reach. "I was having a great run, but I just caught the edge of a gate," said Evian. "I was obviously disappointed." Though the team failed to qualify for nationals, Liebman delivered an impressive performance and managed to earn an individual invitation to nationals. She finished second overall among women, placing third in the slalom category and fifth in the giant slalom. "We are extremely proud of her," Lowen said. "She's a fantastic skier [and] has beautiful form and a lot of technical skill. She was able to go out there and beat most of the field -- she really deserves to go to nationals." "I was in shock when I found out how well I had done," Liebman said. "It was a really exciting feeling, and I'm still a little overwhelmed. It's a welcome achievement though." Adding to the weekend's excitement was that the news was so completely unexpected. Individual standings are not recorded until the end of the competition so skiers have to judge for themselves where they place in the field as the races go on. "It was difficult to tell how I would finish but we had figured somewhere around fifth," said Liebman. "We only went to the awards ceremony because I had a third-place medal, not because we expected this. It was such a big surprise that I made it." The only skier whose individual scores surpassed Liebman was a member of the Syracuse University squad -- the team that took first at the regional tournament. Because the individual invitation is awarded to the skier who places highest at the competition but is not a member of a team already headed to nationals, Liebman was given the nod. This year, the national competition will be held at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., from March 10-14, where Liebman will be Penn's only representative. Because she qualified individually, she will have to attend without the rest of her team. "I'm close with the other teams in our conference [Penn State and Maryland] going to Mammoth, but it's a lot more fun if you go with your whole team. I wish everybody was coming with me," Liebman said. While she explained that she was looking forward to the upcoming championship, Liebman -- who also went to nationals as a freshman after finishing first overall at regionals -- remarked that she did not expect to be one of the top skiers at Mammoth. "The competition is just amazing there," she said. "I figure I'll come in somewhere in the middle of the field, which is exactly how I did two years ago. I am extremely excited though."