After combining the alpine points for the team totals, the University of Vermont dominated the alpine events and won with 900 points. Middlebury finished second with 868 points and Dartmouth came in third with 846 points.
On Friday, the men's Nordic team had a fantastic day in a race that can only be called sensational. All six of Dartmouth's varsity skiers finished in the top 10, a feat that has not happened in years. The Big Green blew away the competition, maintaining a stranglehold on the lead pack in the mass start 20 kilometer freestyle race.
Mikey Sinnott '07 finished in second place behind Middlebury's senior sensation Garrott Kuzzy, who won in a time of 56:19.2. The next four spots fell to Dartmouth with Ben True '08 in third, Glenn Randall '09 in fourth, Sam Naney '06 in fifth and Max Hopkins '09 in sixth. Zach Hall '06 finished in 10th place to round out the Dartmouth squad.
In a dramatic moment in the last kilometer of the race, True, who was leading the Dartmouth pack, caught an edge and jammed his pole into his chest. He fell and was passed by teammate Sinnott, but still managed to finish in third.
"Our team really displayed the strength we've built through the season in this weekend's races. Everyone, from the top down, performed outstandingly," said Naney.
The women's team also had a great day in the 15-kilometer freestyle mass start, but it was Middlebury senior Evelyn Dong who pulled off the win at her home carnival. Big Green skiers took the next three spots with Alison Crocker '06 in second, Kristina Trygstad-Saari '07 in third and Susan Dunklee '08 in fourth.
Hannah Dreissigacker '09 and Elsa Sargent '08 displayed the depth of the Dartmouth team, finishing in 10th and 11th, respectively. Sara Studebaker '07 was 17th.
Dartmouth continued to crush the competition in Saturday's ten kilometer men's and five kilometer women's classic races, and come away with a pair of first place finishes from Crocker and Sinnott, who both skied tough races.
"This weekend was the best way to end the season possible," said Crocker. "Both the men and women Nordic skiers rocked."
Sinnott agreed, saying, "I was impressed with the whole team this weekend, especially Ben True, who overcame a crash at the end of the 20-kilometer race Friday to finish powerfully in both the freestyle and classic races."
The rest of the team followed the duo wins with inspiring finishes from all six varsity skiers. In the men's race Naney finished in third, followed closely by True in fourth. Randall also had a notable race, finishing in sixth. Hopkins and Hall were 14th and 17th, respectively.
In the women's race, Crocker was followed by Trygstad-Saari, who finished 16 seconds back to take second place. Sargent and Dunklee were fourth and sixth, which put four Dartmouth skiers in the top six. Dreissigacker and Studebaker also had strong races, finishing in 12th and 13th place, respectively.
The alpine events were held at the Middlebury Snow Bowl. Middlebury and Vermont dominated the top spots in both events. Greg Hardy of Vermont and Megan Hughes of Middlebury had fantastic weekends, winning both the giant slalom and slalom.
On Friday in the men's giant slalom, Dartmouth's top finisher was Dave Chodounsky '08 who finished fifth in a solid race. Erik Johnson '06 finished 10th and Nelson Riley '08 finished 18th.
In the women's giant slalom, Hughes of Middlebury won on her home course in a time of 2:12.69. She was followed by three strong Vermont skiers who finished second through fourth, securing Vermont the win. Dartmouth's top skier was Hannah Tsai '08 in 12th place. A tough day for the Dartmouth women left juniors Alexandra Fucigna '07 and Lindsay Mann '07 in 20th and 25th place, respectively.
In Saturday's snowy slalom, the Dartmouth team struggled to match the success of last season. Chodounsky finished in sixth place, just a second behind Hardy's winning time of 1:29.08. Riley finished in ninth.
For the women, Fucigna skied a great first run to finish in tenth place. Michelanne Shields '08 and Tsai finished in 12th and 16th, respectively.
"We dealt with lots of snow both days," said Shields. "I think we had a really impressive season considering we had no seniors and we pulled two girls up from the development team. Since we were such a small, young team, we were able to focus more on improving and setting realistic goals."
Now that the carnival season is over the team will prepare for the NCAA Championships held March 8-11 in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Athletes will be named to the team later this week.
