Freezing temperatures forced organizers to cancel day one of racing, but the skiers braved the elements Sunday, and the Big Green earned third place in the team standings at the St. Lawrence Winter Carnival in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Dartmouth garnered 304 points to University of Vermont's 345 and Middlebury's 332.
Junior Gusty Swift led the Dartmouth scorers by winning the women's GS race by over four-fifths of a second.
"She has been skiing very well of late, so it was not a big surprise. It was a very demanding race--long, icy and rough conditions--so it was an impressive victory for Gusty," Coach Bruce Lingelbach said. "She showed today that she is one of the top skiers in a very strong women's field."
Last season, Swift had several top-five finishes, but victories were elusive.
Leading the Green's cross-country charge into the new season were Kate Pearson '02 and Nils Arvold '00, who finished third and fourth in the freestyle cross-country races.
Dave Stewart and Tessa Benoit, both of UVM, won the races, but Middlebury edged the Catamounts by two points in the cross-country team standings, 172-170.
Big Green men's cross-country coach Ruff Patterson said, "Middlebury looks really strong. They're showing a lot of depth this season."
Last season's Catamount phenom, Ekaterina Ivanova, finished a few ticks behind Pearson, who's time for the 7.5K course was 25:34. Arvold crossed the finish ahead of teammate Scott McArt '01, who stumbled in the mass start of the 15K race.
McArt had to make up lost ground with "inspired skiing," Patterson said.
Senior Jeremy Joseph's sixth place finish was the best result for the men's alpine team. Scott Kennison of Vermont won the men's GS race with a time of 2:22.60.
Norwich native Steven Donahue '00 finished 10th in the men's cross-country race, and seven other Big Green racers earned top-20 finishes.
On Saturday, race organizers faced temperatures of 10 degrees below zero, and wind chills that exceeded 50 degrees below zero. The alpine races that were scheduled for Saturday will be made up later in the season.
UNH hosts the EISA circuit in Jackson, N.H. this coming weekend.
