The Dartmouth nordic teams kicked off their collegiate carnival circuit this weekend with signs of good things to come.
Several individual skiers had superb results and though the cross-country teams couldn't quite hold on to the second place position that the alpine teams earned last weekend, they finished a very respectable third behind the University of Vermont and the University of New Hampshire.
Friday, the University of New Hampshire hosted two races at the Jackson Ski Touring center to complete the carnival that began with alpine races at Attitash Mountain last weekend.
Abi Holt '99 and Jessica Smith '99 led the charge for the Big Green women. The two were faster than all but one competitor as they skied to tight second and third place finishes, respectively, only one tenth of a second apart. The Big Green's excellent results earned them a second place for the day, a mere two points behind leader UVM.
The men tied for fourth for the day, behind strong finishes from Paul Stone '98 and Stephen Donahue '99, who skated to fourteenth and fifteenth, respectively. The biggest news of the day, though, was Big Green freshman Nils Arvold, who skied to a tremendous ninth place finish in his first ever collegiate race. Unfortunately, as the designated sixth-man skier, Nils was ineligible to score for Dartmouth.
On Saturday, the men and women raced together as teams for a 4 x 5K mixed relay.
Dartmouth's first team suffered some bad luck as Donahue started off only to break one of his poles. Holt, Stone and Smith skied the remaining legs of the relay without incident but, Smith said, "[Donahue's pole breaking] was a tough start. We finished fifth, but we really should have been second or so."
The other Dartmouth team of Pat Cote '98, Chris Shaner '99, Eric Maas '98 and Ellen Halstead '98 finished tenth. The two teams earned a tie for fourth for the day.
At the end of all four days of alpine and nordic competition, Dartmouth wound up in third position, while the University of Vermont held on for the win and UNH moved into second.
