In the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Championships hosted by Middlebury College, the Big Green skiers ended the season by finishing second in the Middlebury Winter Carnival and second overall in the Eastern Cup competition. The big winner this week was the University of Vermont, who came away with the carnival win and the Eastern Cup victory. Middlebury finished third.
Like they've done all season, the Dartmouth women's nordic team dominated the field. On Friday in the 5 km classical race at the Rikert Ski Touring Center, Dartmouth placed all six skiers in the top 13. Alison Crocker '06 won the race in 16:34.2, just ahead of teammate Liz Harrington '05, who skied into second place. Elsa Sargent '08 missed third place by one second and finished fourth. Susan Dunklee '08 was right behind Sargent finishing fifth. Sara Studebaker '07 finished ninth, and Jean Polfus '06 finished 13th.
On Saturday in the 15 km freestyle race, the Dartmouth women finally finished 1-2-3 with a sweep that had eluded the team all season. Harrington skied a fantastic race in the final carnival of her career and finished in 44:54.6, more than 30 seconds ahead of Crocker in second and Sargent in third. Dunklee again took fifth, rounding out two days with four of the top five skiers representing Dartmouth.
"I'm really proud of this team," said women's nordic coach Cami Thompson. "It's great to see all six give one hundred percent."
In the men's 10 km classical race on Friday, Dartmouth and UVM dominated the top eight spots with a UVM sweep of 1-2-3. Ethan Foster won the race in 28:34.5, followed by teammates Lowell Bailey and Jordi St. John. Big Green freshmen Ben Koons and Ben True were fourth and fifth and Mike Sinnott '07 finished eighth.
"Classical is the technique we're strongest in," said Dartmouth head coach Ruff Patterson. "The conditions were perfect, and it made for some fantastic skiing."
On Saturday in the 20 km freestyle race, Dartmouth men had a little trouble keeping up with the UVM powerhouse Ethan Foster, who won the event in 49:22.2. UVM's Bailey again took second place by 0.1 second, with Middlebury's Garrott Kuzzy in third. Dartmouth's top finisher was Sinnott in eighth place, followed by True in ninth and Sam Naney '06 in 12th.
In the men's alpine events held at Middlebury Snow Bowl, Dartmouth placed four racers in the top ten of the slalom. Colby's Warner Nickerson won his second slalom of the season in 1:22.63 ahead of Dartmouth's first skier, Evan Weiss '06, who finished fifth. Karl Johnson '06 and Erik Kankainen '05 finished sixth and seventh respectively, and Travis Gaylord '06 finished 10th.
In the giant slalom held on Saturday, Weiss again took fifth place. New Hampshire's Ben Drummond posted the fastest second-run time to take the race in 1:56.80. Colby's Warner Nickerson was second, followed by UVM's Greg Hardy. Dartmouth's David Chodounsky '08 was 10th, and Gaylord was 11th.
In the women's slalom, the host Middlebury Panthers roared on their home hill, placing three racers in the top five. UVM's Jilyne McDonald, the sister of Dartmouth junior and US Ski Team member Paul McDonald, won the race in 1:34.34. Dartmouth's top finisher was Christin Lathrop '05, who finished in ninth after Courtney Calise made an error in her second run. Michelanne Shields '08 was 11th, Hannah Tsai '08 was 16th and Alex Fucigna '07 was 17th.
In the giant slalom, UVM was able to seal its team win by placing two finishers in the top three. Middlebury's Meghan Hughes won the event in 2:01.3, followed by UVM's Jamie Kingsbury and Amy Cochran. Dartmouth's Calise came back from her fumble in the slalom to finish fourth. Shields was 11th, Lathrop was 13th and Fucigna was 18th.
After six carnival races, the overall EISA rankings were announced on Saturday following the alpine events. The Dartmouth nordic women placed five skiers in the top ten All East Team. Crocker, Harrington, and Sargent finished in the top five, giving them First Team All East recognition. The trio will continue their season by representing Dartmouth at the NCAA Championships held in Stowe, Vt., during the week of March 7th.
Chrissy May '05 and Dunklee earned Second Team All East acknowledgment by finishing in the top ten overall in the eastern circuit. Crocker and Harrington were also honored with yellow bibs for finishing the season with the most points in classical and freestyle competitions respectively.
In men's alpine, Weiss and Chodounsky finished First Team All East, and both skiers also claimed the yellow jerseys: Weiss in the giant slalom, and Chodounsky in slalom. Dartmouth's men's alpine NCAA team will consist of Weiss, Chodounsky and Kankainen.
In men's nordic, Koons made the First Team All East, and both Sinnott and True were named to the Second Team All East. These three will make up Dartmouth's NCAA team.
Finally, in women's alpine, Calise was named First Team All East, and Lathrop made Second Team All East. These two will be joined by Sasha Acher '06 on Dartmouth's NCAA team.
