12 SKIERS RECEIVE EISA ACADEMIC HONORS; ARCHAMBAULT-LEGER HONORED FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Led by four-time honoree Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec), a total of 12 University of New Hampshire student-athletes were named to the 2010 EISA All-Academic Intercollegiate Ski Team, as announced by the U.S. Collegiate Ski Coaches Association at last week's NCAA Championship Banquet.

The total of 107 student-athletes who received recognition recorded a minimum of 3.5 grade-point-average in the Fall 2009 semester and competed at the 2010 Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association regional championship.

Archambault-Leger raced to her fifth career All-America finish on March 12, when she finished eighth in the slalom at the NCAA Skiing Championships. She skied at the NCAAs all four years.

Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) and Michael Lessard (Greene, Maine) received this academic distinction for the third consecutive year. Ford also competed at the NCAA Skiing Championships all four years as a Wildcat and was a two-time All-American on the slopes. Lessard, a senior on the Nordic squad, pointed in six races this season and that included a 12th-place finish in the 20K freestyle at the EISA Championships.

There were also nine UNH skiers who were first-time honorees. Aliza Aylward (Warren, Vt.) of the women’s alpine squad was joined by women’s Nordic skiers Danielle Baron (Gilford, N.H.) and Liz Guiney (Park City, Utah). Paul Atkinson (Toronto, Ontario), Viktor Hlas (Pitea, Sweden) and James MacMahon (Unity, N.H.) were the other men’s alpine skiers who were feted. Steve Bedard (Cheshire, Conn.), Erik Lindren (Pitea, Sweden) and Dylan McGuffin (Northfield, N.H.) also made the grade from the men's Nordic squad.

Atkinson and McGuffin were also first-year competitors at the NCAA Skiing Championships in 2010. McGuffin, a senior, raced to a 10th-place finish in the men's 10K classic race on March 11 to garner All-America accolades; he is the first UNH Nordic All-American since 2000. Atkinson, a sophomore, Atkinson, a sophomore, was UNH's top finisher in the NCAA slalom in 14th place overall.

New Hampshire placed fourth at the EISA Championships and completed the 2010 season in ninth place at the NCAA Skiing Championships. It marked the second consecutive ninth-place finish at the NCAAs.