"You are witnessing pure greatness," called the announcer, surprised, as the first racers in the women's 15k classic already came into view, swinging around the field and through the finish on their way to a second loop in the woods. Poling furiously and blasted by the bitterly cold wind, they swept past -- the yellow and green of the University of Vermont in the lead, followed by a pumping stream of skiers in green and white.
When they reappeared in the main field the second time, sprinting to the finish, Carina Hamel of UVM held on to her lead, still chased by the green and white. Susan Dunklee '08, captain Sara Studebaker '07 and Hannah Dreissigacker '09 took second, third and fourth, respectively, locking in the win for Dartmouth.
The Big Green women packed five into the top eleven at Friday's 15k, dominating the opening race of the Dartmouth Carnival and setting the tone for the weekend.
While most Dartmouth students were sleeping late on Friday morning or waking up to enjoy the Winter Carnival festivities, the ski team was already on its way to another victory. The Big Green team won its fourth straight carnival, this time on its home turf, remaining undefeated more than halfway into the season.
Alpine events were held at the Dartmouth Skiway, but the nordic races were relocated to Stowe, Vt., due to the lack of snow in Hanover.
After the women's 15k, and as the frigid cold turned to spitting sleet, the men's nordic team lined up for its mass start in the 20k classic. Usually racers start in heats or waves, but at both races on Friday, over 60 skiers sprinted from the starting line, jostling for position. Right from the line however, the Dartmouth men took positions at the front of the pack.
At the halfway point, the top five skiers flew through the field, one after another, four of the five in the dark green and white snowflakes of the Dartmouth ski team. Ben True '08 and captain Mike Sinnott '07 traded the lead back and forth throughout the race, extending a blistering pace throughout the 20k race. Ben Koons '08 and Glenn Randall '09 also took spots near the front.
In the final sprint to the finish, True took first over Sinnott by just slightly over two seconds. Juergen Uhl of UVM took third, followed closely by Koons in fourth and Randall in fifth. True's win broke Sinnott's previously undefeated Carnival season.
"While the win felt good, we're just trying to keep it within the Dartmouth team," True said. With four of the top five spots, the Big Green men easily won the race.
Meanwhile, the men's and women's alpine teams were doing their part in slalom races at the Skiway. On the men's side, captain Dave Chodounsky '08 led the way, grabbing first place and racking up points for the team. Leading after the first run by about three tenths of a second, Chodounsky, the 2005 NCAA slalom champion, edged ahead another two tenths in his second run to secure his win by almost half a second. Rusty Heise '09 took eighth place and Alex Felix '08 was eleventh, rounding out the scoring for the Big Green men, good enough for a third place team finish in Friday's slalom.
On the women's side, Hayley Jones '10 took fourth place, slightly less than a second behind winner Mattie Ford of Middlebury College. Lindsay Mann '07 grabbed eighth and Hannah Tsai was 14th, tallying up the points for Dartmouth and securing a third place finish for the day.
After the first day of competition, the two first place finishes from the nordic squad combined with the two third place finishes from the alpine team to put Dartmouth in the lead. Going into the second day of racing, The Big Green topped the standings with 386 points, just 17 ahead of the University of Vermont. Middlebury was third with 342.
In Stowe on Saturday, the wind chill had warmed up a bit and the Big Green skiers turned in a white-hot performance. In the men's 3x10k freestyle relay, True, Randall and Sinnott teamed up, dominating from the start to the finish, leaving UVM in second place and two and a half minutes behind.
In the women's 3x5k freestyle relay, Dunklee, Studebaker and Dreissigacker joined forces. After the first two legs, Middlebury was in the lead, but Dreissigacker took over as anchor and turned it around. Dreissigacker turned in a blazing-fast leg of 14 minutes and 59 seconds, the fastest individual time of the day. In the end, the Big Green women beat out Middlebury by six seconds.
At the Skiway, the alpine squad was also turning up the heat, competing in another day of slalom racing. Lindsay Mann led the women's slalom by two hundredths of a second after the first run, but Kara Crow of UVM came from behind to snag the win. Mann took second, a carnival-career best. Michelanne Shields '08, an All-American last year, took fifth. Co-captain Sasha Acher '06 finished in 16th to close the scoring for Dartmouth, and the women moved up a spot, finishing second behind UVM.
On the men's side, Dave Chodounsky turned in a blistering first run, the fastest of the day, but Greg Hardy of UVM managed to eke out a comeback, winning the race by six hundredths of a second. With Chodounsky in second, Evan Weiss '06 in sixth and Heise in 12th, the Dartmouth men also moved up a spot, taking second to UVM.
As the results came in and the tallies added up, it was clear that Dartmouth's even stronger performance on Saturday had cemented the victory. In the end, the Big Green extended its lead over UVM, finishing with 756 points to UVM's 729. Middlebury took third with 670 points. The podium has remained remarkably unchanged throughout the carnival season: Dartmouth, UVM and Middlebury have finished in that order every weekend so far.
By far one of the most successful seasons in recent memory, the results this year have many looking eagerly towards the Eastern championships and to the NCAA championships. Dartmouth finished third last year, behind western ski dynasties Colorado University and the University of New Mexico. This year, however, the Big Green looks stronger than ever, and the national title is up for grabs.
Things have certainly fallen into place so far this year, and the Big Green's recipe for success is working. Winning a carnival requires teamwork and coordination on all levels: from the alpine and nordic teams, in the relays, even in the individual races. Especially in the nordic distance events, team dynamic is essential.
"We push each other and can take turns taking the lead, so we pull each other through the sections that are tough," Studebaker said.
"It's been great this year will so many guys all up front, and great to be able to work together," True said. "Hopefully our trend will continue and we'll be a force to reckon with on the national level."
Dartmouth will travel to the Williams Carnival next week, where the team will look to continue this season's spectacular streak.
