Not even the freezing cold could stop the Dartmouth ski team's hot streak this season. The Big Green remained undefeated on the season by overwhelming the competition at the University of New Hampshire Winter Carnival, despite frigid temperatures that forced the nordic events to be delayed.
The Big Green dominated the meet, winning six out of the eight events and scoring 784 points, amassing an 83-point margin of victory. Vermont finished in a distant second place with 701 points and Middlebury was third with 668 points. Dartmouth showed no weaknesses, turning in strong performances in both the alpine and the cross-country events.
Dartmouth was particularly successful in the nordic events. At the Jackson cross-country ski area, the Big Green swept the competition, winning all four events.
In the men's 10-kilometer freestyle event, captain Mike Sinnott '07 won for the second straight week with a time of 23:47.
Ben True '08, who is also a member of the cross-country and track teams, was the next Big Green finisher, coming across the finish in 24:14.9. Zach Hall '06 rounded out the scoring coming in sixth with a time of 24:49.7.
Sinnott also won the 20-kilometer classic event, checking into the finish line at 29:37.2. Four other Big Green athletes scored in this event, including True, Benjamin Koons '08, Glenn Randall '09 and Patrick O'Brien '10 who finished second, fifth, ninth and 10th, respectively.
The women had an excellent day out on the trails, not only producing winners but also producing multiple high scorers in both of the cross-country events. In the five-kilometer freestyle, captain Sara Studebaker '07 emerged victorious, winning the event by 20 seconds with a time of 19:19.6.
Susan Dunklee '08 was runner-up with a time of 19:40.3 and Kristina Trygstad-Saari '07 finished fifth with a time of 19:46.4.
In the 15-kilometer classic, the women continued to perform well despite the unforgiving temperatures. Elsa Sargent '08 won the event with a healthy 22-second margin, producing a time of 35:07.6.
The next Big Green finisher was Dunklee, who capped off a successful day with a fourth-place finish and a time of 36:09.9. Hannah Dreissigacker '09 finished in fifth with a time of 36:12.1.
Studebaker was ecstatic about the way the team performed over the weekend, especially considering that the conditions were not in Dartmouth's favor.
"It was my first carnival win, and so being a senior, it was pretty exciting. The course was pretty flat, which doesn't really play to the strengths of our team, but we all went out there and stayed tough and ended up having a great day. It was a great weekend, and today showed exactly what the women's nordic team is capable of," she said.
On the slopes at the Attitash Ski area, the Big Green continued to perform well. In the giant slalom, Evan Weiss '07 returned to action from a broken hand, winning the giant slalom with a time of 2:17.76. Teammate David Chodounsky '08 was right on Weiss' heels, coming in second at 2:17.84.
For the women, captain Alex Fucigna '07 was the Big Green's top finisher in the giant slalom, as she took fourth place with a time of 2:24.94. Michelanne Shields '08, an All-American, was timed at 2:25.12 and finished seventh.
In the men's slalom, Chodounsky and Weiss reversed their finishing order form the giant slalom. Chodounsky, the 2005 NCAA champion in the event, won with a combined two-run time of 1:36.37. Weiss snagged second place with a time of 1:37.64.
On the women's side, Shields was the team's top finisher in the slalom, coming down the slopes with a combined time of 1:54.12. Newcomer Hayley Jones '10 and Lindsay Mann '07 were the other two scorers for the Big Green, finishing in fifth and seventh, respectively.
Fucigna was excited about the team's performance, but also maintained that the team has even higher goals.
"Our goal in these upcoming weeks is to try to win a women's team event, because we were only one or two points away from winning the women's team grand slalom and slalom. We have the strength, talent and most of all the determination so I think it's definitely going to happen one of these weekends," Fucigna said.
The Big Green skiers will be back on the slopes and the trails next week on Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3 when they travel to Stowe, Vt., to take part in the University of Vermont Winter Carnival.
