Despite the distractions of a venue change and the departure of Nordic captain Eric Packer '12 to Turkey for the U-23 World Championships, improvement in the alpine events and the depth of talent on the Nordic squad led the Big Green to victory at the Williams Carnival over the weekend.
Dartmouth won the Carnival with 869.5 total points, outpacing archrival University of Vermont, which claimed second with 840 points. Middlebury College finished in a distant third with 690 points, and host Williams College claimed fifth place with 569 points.
The absence of snow caused the cancellation of the Nordic team's classic sprint relays on Friday. The alpine team skied to its best results of the season in the slalom to give the Big Green the lead going into Saturday's giant slalom and doubly-scored 10-kilometer classic races.
In the men's slalom, rookie Ben Morse '14 continued to establish himself as a contender on the Carnival circuit, settling for a fourth-place finish behind three University of Vermont skiers with a two-run time of 1:29.99. The Big Green completed the event in fourth place as a team.
"Sitting in a position to win the race is always an exciting place to be, so I approached my second run with lots of fire and confidence," Morse said. "I had a few mistakes and moved back to fourth overall, but it was still a great day and the team raced very well."
Following Morse, a cluster of rookies Trace Smith '15, Dylan Fisher McCarney '15 and Hunter Black '15 finished in 18th, 19th and 21st places with aggregate times of 1:32.63, 1:32.67 and 1:32.90, respectively. Braden Long '12 and Luke McLaughry '12 completed the course in 41st place (1:44.98) and 44th place (1:47.85) overall.
The women's slalom also saw a Dartmouth skier finish in fourth position. Annie Rendall '13 finished fourth for the Big Green, completing her runs in 1:37.62, just behind two racers from Williams College and one from Harvard University. Abby Fucigna '15 placed 10th, completing her runs in 1:38.95.
Jackie Maier '15, Aylin Woodward '15, Madeline Packard '13 and Erin Fucigna '12 all finished among the top 30 for the Big Green. Maier finished in 15th place (1:39.43), Woodward was 20th down the hill (1:41.46), Packard finished in 25th (1:43.55) and the elder Fucigna finished in 29th place (1:44.53). As a team, the Big Green women finished third in the slalom behind Williams College and Bates College.
The Big Green skied equally well in Saturday's giant slalom races, making the adjustment to rapidly changing snow conditions.
"The snow surface [at Jiminy Peak] was extremely soft for the slalom race and then froze up very firm for the giant slalom on Saturday," Morse said. "Conditions on both days were challenging and definitely required a mix of soft touch and hammering on the turns."
Morse led the Big Green men to a third place showing behind Middlebury College and the University of Vermont, completing his runs in 1:46.37 for an eighth place finish overall. Black finished right behind Morse in a tie for 10th place (1:46.64). Smith and Fisher McCarney finished in 17th and 23rd places overall with times of 1:47.58 and 1:48.86, respectively.
Black who along with Morse has qualified for the NCAA Championships in Bozeman, Mont. in two weeks said he has been training hard this season.
"I've been working on my aggressiveness on my runs and putting things on the edge so I can be both consistent and fast during the races," Black said. "I've struggled with putting down my two best runs every race, but feel I have still have room to improve going into NCAAs."
While nobody succeeded in cracking the top 10 in the women's giant slalom, all six Dartmouth skiers finished inside the top 30. Abby Fucigna led the Big Green with an 11th place finish in 1:51.46. Maier, Rendall and Erin Fucigna finished in 15th, 16th and 18th places overall with times of 1:51.80, 1:51.82 and 1:52.02, respectively. Packard and Woodward finished just outside the top 20 racers in 23rd and 26th places with times of 1:53.22 and 1:54.16, respectively. Overall, the Big Green finished fifth in the women's giant slalom.
At a lower altitude, the Nordic team traveled to Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury Common, Vt. for the double-scored men's and women's 10-kilometer classic races.
Ready to tax their fresh legs after Friday's relays were canceled, the team skied to dominant first-place showings, stacking the top 10 with racers in Dartmouth green spandex.
In the men's race, Gordon Vermeer '12 finished in second place with a time of 26:42.5 behind UVM skier Franz Bernstein's winning time of 26:29.8. Just behind Vermeer was Sam Tarling '13, who finished fourth in 27:13.9. Alex Schulz '12 and rookie Silas Talbot '15 rounded out the top ten in ninth and 10th places with times of 27:35.5 and 27:36.7, respectively. Steven Mangan '14 and Erik Fagerstron '14 finished just outside of the top 10 in 12th place (27:55.3) and 17th place (28:16.4), respectively.
The victory marked the 20th event win in a row for the men's Nordic team.
"We came into this race with a 19-event win streak and had no intention of losing the 20th," Vermeer said. "Our depth is an overlooked asset we had Alex [Schulz] and Silas [Talbot] finish in the top 10, a couple guys you don't normally see racing. This is how it always works. Someone else steps up to get the job done."
The women's team also put its depth on display, as three skiers finished within the top five. Annie Hart '14 won the race in 30:36.0. Sophie Caldwell '12 stood next to her on the podium, finishing second with a time of 30:49.7. Erika Flowers '12 finished behind several University of Vermont skiers for fifth place overall (31:30.3).
Steph Crocker '12, Megan Killigrew '14 and Isabel Caldwell '14 rounded out the Big Green racers, finishing in 11th, 15th and 16th places with times of 32:35.3, 33:02.1 and 33:02.4, respectively.
"Before the race, we decided that being able to kick really well up the hills would be a really important factor in the race," Hart said. "So we made sure we had pretty bomb-proof kicks and just kept things really smooth for the first half of the race, and then just gave it our all the second half of the race. It was a good day all around."
Dartmouth skis at the Middlebury Carnival and Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships next weekend in Middlebury, Vt. before traveling to Bozeman, Mont. for the NCAA Championships beginning on March 7.
