Ski Teams Take Third Place At Colby Carnival

The Middlebury ski team finished in third place at the Colby Carnival, one spot ahead of their standing after day one. The Vermont Catamounts topped the charts this weekend with 1,012 points, Dartmouth came in next with 882 points, Middlebury followed by an exact 200 margin with 682 points, and the University of New Hampshire rounded out the standings with 620 points.

The conditions did not play in the skiers favor, as hard snow and ice led to a slick track. Low light also caused difficulty since skiers were unable to commit to the course with the usual level of confidence.

On the first day of competition, a notable run by Yina Moe-Lang ’15 earned her a second straight top 10 finish in the giant slalom, finishing in a time of 2:20.80. In her first race ever as a Panther, Lisa Schroer ’17 came in at 23rd and Katelyn Barclay ’15 ended the race in 26th place.

Kara Shaw ’15 had a standout performance this weekend, finishing in ninth place with a time of 1:40.51, despite having trouble on the first day.

“I skied through the panel of a giant slalom gate and it whipped around and hit my back which knocked the wind out,” Shaw said. “Even though I didn’t finish the GS, I was happy with the way I was skiing and I carried that confidence into the second day and tried not to hold anything back.”

Despite her top ten finish at the slalom carnival this past weekend, Shaw wants to improve upon her results.

“Aside from qualifying for NCAAs, my main goal is to podium in a giant slalom carnival race,” Shaw said. “So far I’ve had disappointing results in the first two giant slalom races, but I’m feeling good with my skiing so I’m looking forward to this weekend to finally put two strong runs together.”

Moe-Lang finished in a time of 1:43.90 earning herself a 21st place finish in the GS. To round out the women’s alpine finishers in the GS was Elle Gilbert ’16 who was less than a second behind fellow teammate Moe-Lang, crossing the line in a time of 1:44.56.

In the giant slalom, the men’s alpine team was led by Christopher McKenna’s ’17 fifth place finish, his second straight top five finish in the giant slalom. Nick Bailey ’14 ended up 13th and Colin Hayes ’17 came in at 29th place.

The men’s alpine team was impressive this weekend as well in the slalom, with two skiers finishing in the top ten. Sixth place finisher Hayes led the Panthers with a time of 1:29.93, while eighth place finisher Liam Mulhern ’14 came in only seventeen-hundredths of a second behind Hayes with a final time of 1:30.08. McKenna’s run in a time of 1:31.22 landed him 16th place.

The women’s nordic team held their own as well in Maine, with three top twenty times in the 10K race. Heather Mooney ’15 led her team with a time of 29:03, giving her a fifth place finish. Fellow classmate Stella Holt ’15 charged her way to 11th place, landing a final time of 29:43. The final scorer for the women’s nordic team was Kaitlin Fink ’16 who came in at 16th in a time of 30:11.

The trio of Mooney, Holt, and Fink also scored the top three finishes for Middlebury in the 10K race. Once again, Mooney led her team in ninth place, Holt had her first top ten finish ending in a remarkable 10th place, and Fink came in at number 24.

Ben Lustgarten ’14 led the men’s nordic team with remarkable results both on day one and day two of the carnival. He earned himself a second place finish in the 10K classic race in a time of 31:34 and a third place finish in the 15K freestyle race in a time of 36:47.

Austin Cobb ‘14 and Jack Steele ‘16 were the other two scorers for the men’s nordic team. Cobb worked his way to a 27th place finish in the 10K and a 15th place result in the 15K event. Steele rounded out the scores with 36th place in the 10K and 33rd place in the 15K.

The ski teams compete at the UNH Carnival this coming weekend, on Jan. 24 and 25.