"It is always fun racing at home, and having all of the students supporting our team," women's cross-country coach Cami Thompson said. "The skiing venues are often just us, so it was great to see everyone out there cheering us on."
At the Dartmouth Cross Country Ski Center at Oak Hill, the women's Nordic team won both its five-kilometer classic and its 10-kilometer freestyle races. The competition saw the return of Sophie Caldwell '12, who missed the first half of the season to compete in the World Junior Championships in Praz de Lys Sommand, France. Caldwell's addition proved instrumental to the team's victories, as she placed first in both of her races.
"Racing in my first carnival was a lot of fun, and the Dartmouth Carnival was a good place to start," Caldwell said. "It was beautiful weather all weekend, and it's really nice to be back home racing with the team."
The women also nabbed its first sweep of the podium this season in the freestyle race, with Rosie Brennan '11 and Ida Sargent '11 finishing second and third, clocking in at 30:21.6 and 30:23.9, respectively, behind Caldwell, who timed 29:53.9.
"It was absolutely an exciting day to see the sweep," Thompson said. "Sophie, Ida and Rosie make a powerful team, and it showed."
In the win in the five-kilometer classic, five skiers placed in the top 10. Sargent followed Caldwell to take second with a time of 15:24.0, Brennan came in fourth place, with Hannah Dreissigacker '09 in seventh place and Erika Flowers '12 in ninth place.
The strong performances can be attributed to the team's familiarity with the courses, since they are quite technical and hilly, Caldwell said.
Meanwhile, at the Dartmouth Skiway, Courtney Hammond '11, who was ranked first for both the slalom and giant slalom races going into the carnival, finished in first place in both her races.
Hammond's win in the giant slalom, in addition to a third-place finish by Kelsey Roddick '11 and a ninth-place finish for co-captain Christine Roberts '10, helped the team win the race with 125 points.
The women placed second in the slalom race, a mere seven points behind the University of Vermont. Hammond's first-place finish clocked a total time of 1:38.07, while co-captain Hayley Jones '10 contributed to the point accumulation with a fourth-place finish.
On the men's side, the Nordic team struggled on its first day, taking third in the 10-kilometer classic to end its undefeated streak for that race. Nils Koons '11 captured fourth place in the race and provided the best finish for the team with a time of 26:57.1.
The men, however, stepped up on Saturday to garner a second-place finish in the 15-kilometer freestyle behind Middlebury. Koons entered that race with a first-place bib rank, and again placed fourth, followed by Eric Packer '12 in fifth. A total of five Big Green men placed in the top 20, helping amass a 110-point finish.
The men's alpine team got off to a great start, finishing second in the giant slalom race behind the University of New Hampshire team, which is still undefeated in that race.
Luke McLaughry '12 produced the alpine team's best finish of the season, placing second with a total time of 1:48.04, and also raced the fastest individual heat of the Dartmouth Carnival's giant slalom race, coming in at 52.87. Francis Fortin-Houle '10 followed McLaughry, landing in eighth place with a total time of 1:49.86.
The Big Green's strong finishes not only secured a first-place finish, but may also help determine who from the team heads to the NCAA Championships.
"[The qualifiers] are definitely a factor when it comes to racing, because coaches look at the whole season performance when we choose the teams," Thompson said. "We can only take three athletes from each of the four teams, so it is a tough decision to make."
Thompson added that final NCAA decisions would not be made until the Eastern Collegiate Ski Association Championships later this month.
But now that the season is more than halfway completed, and Dartmouth remains undefeated in the carnivals, Thompson said everyone must stay on his or her toes in order to continue focusing on the competitions.
"Each week we've had different teams challenging us -- this week it was Middlebury, last week it was UVM," she said. "I think we understand that it is always a tough competition, because we never know who will be a contender."
