Sports in brief

Crimson ski teams take ninth at opening carnival

In their first carnival of the season, the Harvard alpine and nordic ski teams put together 236 team points to finish ninth at the St. Lawrence University-hosted event on Jan. 27-28 in Lake Placid, N.Y. Junior Jennifer Harlow placed 48th in 19:54.8 to lead the Crimson to an 11th-place team finish in the women’s 5K classic, while Matt Basilico ’08 captured 10th in the giant slalom and slalom in men’s competition.

All told, the University of Vermont took first out of the 13 competing schools with 787 team points, bettering Middlebury College by 46 points. Dartmouth, the only other Ivy League school in the competition, finished third with 647 points.

Women’s tennis swings a sweep vs. Terriers

The Harvard women’s tennis team blanked neighboring Boston University, 7-0, at the Murr Center Courts to kick off the 2006 season in winning fashion. Currently ranked 18th in the latest College Tennis poll, the Crimson swept all three double matches, including an 8-3 victory to open doubles play courtesy of co-captains Elsa O’Riain ’07 and Melissa Anderson ’06. The duo is presently ranked No. 6 in the country.

Harvard resumes play today (Feb. 2) and through the weekend at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoors competition in Madison, Wis.