Dartmouth finished the carnival in third place with 614 points, only 10 points behind second place Middlebury. The University of Vermont won the carnival with 639 points.
On Friday, the Nordic sprint race was relocated to the base of the alpine mountain at Sugarloaf because conditions were too icy at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center. The modified classic sprint course consisted of a straight-shot 450-meter track that ran uphill under a lift line. Normal Nordic sprint courses cover a full kilometer and consist of uphills, downhills and turns, so Friday's course presented a number of challenges for the Dartmouth team.
In sprint races, all skiers compete in a qualifying 15-second interval start round. The top 32 skiers move on to eight heats of four skiers, in which the top two from each heat move on to the quarterfinals, semifinals and final heats.
Susan Dunklee '08 posted the highest finish for the team after competing in all five heats to battle for second place in the finals. She was overtaken by Anja Jokela and Marion Solbjorg of Vermont early in the race and, in the scramble, fell to one knee, managed to get up, catch and pass Solbjorg, and finish second.
"It was a crazy race," said Dunklee. "I kept thinking it felt like a track meet because we were separated into lanes and the race was very straightforward rather than tactical."
Elsa Sargent '08 advanced in the heats to the B final and finished in sixth place. Dartmouth's third skier was Kristina Trygstad-Saari '07, who finished 10th in the quarterfinals.
For the men's team, Mike Sinnott '07, Ben True '08 and Zach Hall '06 all made it to the quarterfinals, but were eliminated in their heats to finish ninth, 13th and 15th, respectively. Jorgen Uhl of Germany, skiing for the University of Vermont, won the race in the final heat.
The alpine races were rescheduled for Saturday and Sunday because high winds disrupted power to the course Friday. On Saturday, rain in the morning made the men's slalom quick, fast and treacherous, but Karl Johnson '06 was able to claim victory for the Dartmouth team.
The senior finished both his runs in a combined 1:48.11, a solid two seconds ahead of the next competitor. In the second run, Alex Felix '08 posted the fastest time to move himself up to seventh place, just behind teammate Nelson Riley '06, who finished sixth.
In the women's slalom, a torrential downpour delayed the second run as the lifts were shut down due to lightning. After skiing the first run in bright sunshine, the Dartmouth women headed back to the hotel when the heavy rainstorm hit, only to be called back in the late afternoon to finish their races.
Sealy Livermore '08 finished eighth for Dartmouth, followed by classmates Michelanne Shields and Hannah Tsai in 11th and 12th places, respectively.
"Visibility and conditions on the course were horrible," said Livermore. "We were sure our race had been canceled when we were called back to the mountain to finish our second run in the rain."
In the men's 20-kilometer freestyle race held on the slushy trails at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center, Sam Naney '06 skied the best carnival race of his career to finish fourth in the grueling four lap race. "It's a great feeling to have months of hard training pay off in a solid finish," said Naney.
Sinnott, who will be leaving for the World Under-23 Championships in Slovenia on Monday, finished in eighth place. Rounding out the team, True and Hall finished 12th and 17th, respectively. Anders Osthus of Vermont won the race in 55:28.7.
The University of Vermont swept the field in the women's 15-kilometer freestyle race, boasting the top six finishes; Carina Hamel won the race in 50:26.9. Dartmouth's Hannah Dreissigacker '09 was the first to break the Vermont stranglehold, finishing in seventh place. Sophomores Dunklee and Sargent finished 11th and 19th, respectively.
Sunday's giant slalom race continued the trend of bad weather for the carnival. The day started out sunny and clear with superb snow conditions, but high winds shut the lifts down all morning. By the time the athletes were able to get on the mountain, there was only time to complete one run.
"We had to shift our tactics for the day and put everything on the line for the first run," said Johnson.
Despite timing problems and mistakes in the posted results, the Dartmouth men won the giant slalom by two points over Williams. Following his victory in the slalom, Johnson had another fantastic day and finished second. Travis Gaylord '06 finished sixth, followed closely by David Chodounsky '08 in eighth. Riley rounded out the team's performances with a 12th place finish.
The Dartmouth women's top finisher was Alexandra Fucigna '07, who placed 15th. Shields and Livermore were 18th and 21st, respectively. The University of Vermont dominated the field by taking five of the top eight places. Jamie Kingsbury led the UVM charge, taking the race in 55.50.
The action continues on Jan. 27 and 28 at the St. Lawrence Carnival in Lake Placid, N.Y. Weather and snow permitting, the alpine races will take place at Whiteface and the nordic events at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
