The Dartmouth ski team opened the 2007 season in a grand fashion, roaring to victory at the St. Michael's College Carnival in Colchester, Vt. Together, the Big Green men's and women's alpine and nordic teams combined for 687 points, outdistancing runner-up University of Vermont by 11 points.
A Dartmouth skier took first place in seven out of the eight different events. The Big Green had team victories in three different events, the men's nordic 10K freestyle and both of the Nordic sprint relays.
Dartmouth's most dominant performance came in the men's 10k nordic race, where the Big Green placed four skiers in the top ten. Captain Mike Sinnott '07 won the race, outpacing runner-up Ben True '08 by a little over 20 seconds. Glenn Randall '09 and Zach Hall '06 followed in sixth and 10th, respectively.
Frank Fourtin-Houle '10 made his collegiate debut on Friday by winning the men's alpine giant slalom race. His victory was matched by captain Dave Chodounsky '08 in Saturday's slalom race, where Chodounsky took first by over a second -- a wide margin in a race that takes about a minute and a half to complete.
"Frank really stepped it up this weekend, skiing very well in rough conditions," Chodounsky said.
"Frank's win was a big surprise, but we knew he had it in him," said womens co-captain Alex Fucigna '07.
Michelanne Shields '08, a two time All-American, led the women's alpine team, taking first in the giant slalom and fifth in the slalom.
The women's nordic team snagged the top spot in both of their races. Hannah Dreissigacker '09 won the freestyle 5k race on Friday, and Susan Dunklee '08 topped the podium in the classic sprint. In the men's classic sprint, True took first.
Fucigna noted that Dartmouth's success was not based entirely on racking up first place finishes.
"What really makes the difference at these races is the other top two finishers -- a first place counts for a lot of points, but not enough to win," she said. "It's your other teammates that bring in the points that really count and that allowed us to push ahead of Middlebury and UVM."
Fucigna mentioned two of Dartmouth's biggest eastern rivals, both of which will certainly be on their toes after the Big Green's opening victory. At last year's NCAA championships, the Dartmouth ski team took third place overall, with UVM in fifth and Middlebury close behind in seventh.
Next week the Big Green will compete at the University of New Hampshire Carnival. The team had been prepared to compete without three of their top skiers. Mike Sinnott, Ben True and Glenn Randall were originally going to be in Tarvisio, Italy, representing the U.S. at the Under-23 World Championships, but the trip has been cancelled because of a lack of snow. The skiers will find out on Monday when and where the championships are being rescheduled.
That opportunity will disrupt the carnival season, but the team doesn't seem too worried.
"[Our departure] allows other people on the team to step up and show what they're made of. We have some strong skiers right behind us, and I'm confident than in our absence, they will make us proud," Randall said.
"We're definitely planning on bringing home a few more victories this season," Fucigna said.
Dartmouth's first chance at another win comes this Friday, Jan. 28, when the Big Green will travel to the slopes and trails at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.
Correction appended
For the record: An article on Monday ("Ski teams turn in hot performances against UVM, UNH," Jan. 22) incorrectly reported Ben True '08 and Susan Dunklee '08 as winners of the men's and women's classic sprint. In fact, the races were relays won by the teams of True, Dakota Blackhorse von Jess '09, and Michael Sinnot '07 and Dunklee, Elsa Sargent '08 and Hannah Dreissigacker '09.
