Ending the Big Green's 15-carnival winning streak in Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association competition, the Dartmouth ski team finished in second place at the St. Lawrence Carnival in Lake Placid, N.Y, this weekend.
"On the women's side, we had a lot of strong skiers that just didn't have their best races," women's alpine captain Courtney Hammond '11 said. "It was a decent performance, but I think that every individual would say they'd want to do more. We're a little disappointed, but ready to go for next weekend."
Although men's cross country captain Nils Koons '11 said he was disappointed that the team's winning streak ended, he added that it was also "almost a matter of time" before it came to a close.
"Honestly, at some points last year I thought we were going to lose," Koons said. "Still, it's a little bit of a bummer."
Dartmouth notched multiple close wins in its undefeated EISA season last year, including an eight-point victory at the Vermont Carnival and a two-point win at the Williams Carnival.
The University of Vermont won seven of the carnival's eight events, scoring an impressive 1,050 points at Whiteface Mountain. The Big Green's 820 points were good enough for second in the 14-team field, while the University of New Hampshire took third with a total of 722 points.
"I think it was a tough start to the season," Big Green ski team director and women's Nordic coach Cami Thompson said. "I think we can do better, and hopefully we can redeem ourselves next week. Certainly it's disappointing to end the streak, but it's a different team, a new season. We'll try to get a new one started next weekend."
Hammond knew before the competition that the Catamounts would be tough opponents, and said that she was not surprised by their strong performance.
"We competed against a couple of their kids in the fall and they were really good skiers," Hammond said. "They have some good freshmen on national teams from Canada and Norway."
Dartmouth did manage to win one event at the carnival the men's 15-kilometer freestyle. Big Green skiers took four of the top five places in the race. Eric Packer '12 finished second with a time of 40:44, while Koons, Scott Lacy '13 and Sam Tarling '13 finished third through fifth, respectively.
Tarling and Packer also placed highly in the 10-kilometer classic. Tarling took second place with a time of 26:34, while Packer came in fourth 33 seconds behind Tarling.
"I was really pleased with the Nordic team's performance," Koons said. "[Tarling] and [Packer] both stepped up for us and skied really well."
Several Dartmouth skiers also placed well in the carnival's other events. Erika Flowers '12 took second in the women's 10-kilometer freestyle with a time of 31:05, while Isabel Caldwell '14 placed sixth in the women's six-kilometer classic in 19:29.
Isabel Caldwell will temporarily leave the team to compete at the World Junior Championships in Otepea, Estonia, from Jan. 26-31.
Caldwell's sister, Sophie Caldwell '12 as well as Ida Sargent '11 and Packer also qualified for the World Under-23 Championships. Neither Sophie Caldwell nor Packer will compete, choosing instead to focus on the collegiate season.
All four were selected on the basis of their performances at the U.S. National Cross Country Ski Championships, held earlier this month at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine.
The Big Green women were without some of their top Nordic skiers in Lake Placid including Sophie Caldwell, who missed the carnival due to illness.
On the alpine side, Dartmouth was led by Trevor Leafe '12, who notched a pair of top-10 finishes. Leafe finished fifth in the slalom with a total time of 1:32.82 and added a ninth-place showing in the giant slalom with a total time of 2:05.26.
The alpine women took second in the slalom behind a fourth-place finish from Annie Rendall '13 (1:41.41) and a seventh-place finish from Kelsey Roddick '11 (1:42.10). Dartmouth finished third in the giant slalom, as Hammond (7th, 2:11.10) and Erin Fucigna '12 (8th, 2:11.40) both placed highly for the Big Green.
Next weekend, Dartmouth will head to Farmington, Maine, for the Colby Carnival.
