ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University women's alpine skiing team will look to improve and get back going on the slopes for their 2026 season. They finished last season at regionals in ninth place in slaloms and 11th in the giant slalom.

AU will head back into competition with three returners from last season. Also joining the fray is new first-year skier Valérie Borg du Prie (Brussels, Belgium/European School Ixelles). The Saxons will be led by Head Coach Bob Cilino '13 in his 10th season as head coach.

"Val has racing experience," Cilino said. "I hope we are able to enhance and continue her experience skiing."

Alfred University's best result last season came at the first race weekend at Bristol Mountain. The giant slalom team result saw them finish ninth out of 13 teams, led by Zoe Rainville (Saranac, NY/Saranac) and her first run time of 1:10.60.

Rainville enters year three on the alpine skiing team, leading the line for the Saxons. Sophia Lazarenko (Buffalo, NY/Park School of Buffalo) and Gail Miller (Dayton, OH/Stivers School for the Arts) both enter their second year in the program to wrap up the four-man roster.

"While we don't have 10 or 12, here we are still recruiting for 2026 and 2027, we still have a nice tight group of people," Cilino said. "It means I can give enough attention to everybody for feedback and it's not overwhelming."

Small, but mighty is the motto for AU. Spending time on the slopes while having a good time and improving has been the mindset for the Saxons in the last few years as the program continues growing and recruiting to a high level.

Competitions will begin this weekend at West Mountain with the giant slalom on Saturday and slalom on Sunday. It's the start of six weekends straight of competition leading up to the USCSA Mideast Regionals Championship at Bristol Mountain on February 21 and 22.