Skiing wins a bronze again

Author: Anna Furney

Middlebury's ski team finished third out of fourteen teams over the weekend at Williams' Winter Carnival. Following strong performances by both the men's and women's teams, the Panthers delivered a passionate response to what was a challenging weekend for the team both emotionally and physically. As the race marked the one-year anniversary of teammate Kelly Brush's '08 skiing accident that resulted in a serious and life altering spinal injury, teammates and friends of the College Skiing community were hoping for great performances.

Friday's Giant Slalom races at Jiminy Peak were a success for Dorothy Muirhead '08 who finished the day in second place. "I was surprised and excited that it came together for me," she said. "You always hope to pull into the finish and hear good news, but I certainly wasn't expecting it after my first run. I was able to go all out and take some risks in my second run thanks to all my teammates finishing and letting me know how the course was running."

Muirhead's second-fastest second run time of 56.31 earned her the second overall position by the day's end. Muirhead's teammates, Lindsay Brush '07 and Kristen Poehling '08 finished sixth and 12th, which gave Midd enough cumulative points to finish first among the team scores for the day's races.

The men's alpine team saw strong performances by Andrew Wagner '08, who finished in second in the GS on Friday. Wagner came in with the fastest second run time of 53.94, moving him into second position overall. Alec Tarberry's '08 tenth place finish and Joey Swenson's '08 11th place finish helped the men move into third position for the day.

Saturday was another strong day for the Middlebury women's squad, as Poehling guarded her sixth position and Muirhead took 11th. Middlebury senior and team captain Lindsay Brush finished 19th for the day, while her two teammates, Tucker Burton '09 and Leah McLaughry '10 unfortunately found themselves disqualified after confusion over bib numbers and racing order.

On the Nordic side, Cassidy Edwards '09 and Jenny Hamilton '07 finished fifth and sixth in Friday's 10K, and Tim Reynolds '09 was the fastest male finishing 20th.

Saturday's races at the Nordic track of Prospect Mountain were a success for the women, as Hamilton placed fourth and teammate Lizzie Torkelson '07 was close behind in fifth. Robyn Anderson '09 and Claire Luby '10 took seventh and eighth, leaving Middlebury in second for the Women's Classic Sprints.

Middlebury's results after this weekend earned them their fifth straight third-place finish, two spots behind Dartmouth. As Muirhead said, "It was teamwork at its finest." Yet for skiers like Muirhead, "Having Kelly waiting at the finish also gave me a little more 'oomph' in my skiing. That race was for her."