Lucky number "3" sums up ski team's break Panther skiers consistent; place third in carnivals at St. Michael's and UVM

Author: Kellan Florio

After a third place finish at the Bates Carnival to open the 2005 season, the Panther ski teams posted two more thirds at the St. Michael's Carnival and UVM Carnival over the winter break.

Dominant performances by Dartmouth's men's alpine and women's nordic teams powered the Big Green to their first victory of the season last weekend at the UVM carnival with a total of 684.5 points. UVM claimed second on their home turf for a second consecutive season with 648 points, while Middlebury followed in third with 607.5 points, well ahead of fourth place Williams.

By far the most challenging hill the alpine circuit has faced all season, Stowe's steep terrain was no match for the Panther women who turned in by far their best effort of the season. In Friday's giant slalom, first-year Krissie Poehling continued her push toward the top of the podium with a career-best second place finish just over one second behind UVM's Jamie Kingsbury who made it three for three on the year. Following Poehling was Lindsay Brush '07 in seventh and Tara Martin '07 in eighth.

Even more impressive was women's result in Saturday's slalom, placing three finishers in the top five. Megan Hughes '08 and Martin blew away the field en route to their career-bests finishing first and second, respectively, while Lindsay Brush '07 finished fifth, breaking up a string of five UVM racers and notching her sixth top 10 finish in six attempts this season. Hughes' combined time of 1:33.94 gave her a comfortable half-second cushion ahead of Martin and an astounding 2.4-second margin over the third place finisher. First-year Kelly Brush also turned in a solid effort in her first carnival finishing in 14th place.

"I knew I just had to ski smart in the right places and then let it go where I knew I could gain some time," commented Hughes. "It was such a great feeling to be in the finish area with the rest of our team, we were all so excited."

The men's side also witnessed a few surprises as sophomore Andrew Everett made the most of his first career carnival start. The up-and-coming sophomore led the men to a second place finish in the slalom with a team-best fifth place followed by Dave Coriell '06 in sixth. Peter Phillips '05 found his best slalom form of the season moving up an incredible 34 places from his starting position to finish 11th. Colby's Warner Nickerson claimed the victory, while Dartmouth's Evan Weiss and UVM's Greg Hardy took second and third, respectively.

Co-captains John Rusten '05 and Phillips led the men in Friday's giant slalom, finishing ninth and tenth, respectively, while Everett scored again for the Panthers in 13th. After struggling in the morning run, Rusten put together the fastest run of the day in the afternoon, and vaulted 11 places to claim his fourth top 10 finish of the season. Nickerson and Weiss traded places atop the podium, making it three straight giant slalom victories for the Dartmouth first-years.

"I was lucky to get the opportunity to go," commented Everett on his breakthrough weekend. "Obviously I was pretty nervous in the start gate, but everything seemed to come together."

"Everett, Krissie, Megan and Tara were stellar," added Phillips. "The UVM Carnival tested our ability to remain persistent and to battle through some really tough conditions. We pulled through pretty well and even though we could have skied a little faster, we made it happen."

Head Coach Forest Carey was happy to see his team's progression up to the mid-point of the season as the Panthers finished only six points behind Dartmouth for second place in the alpine classification.

"We showed what we're capable of doing with a full team," said Carey referring to Hughes and co-captain Jess Smith '04.5 each missing one of the first two carnivals. "Stowe is the most challenging hill we'll face all year and we'll see it again at NCAA's, so it was great to see we could do, especially the younger skiers. We're on an upward path and look forward to the Dartmouth carnival next week."

The Middlebury men's nordic ski team also enjoyed a successful carnival weekend with a third place in the 10km classic on Friday and a second place in the grueling 20km freestyle mass start event on Saturday.

Garrott Kuzzy '06 showed why head coach Terry Aldrich considers him to be "truly one of the top collegiate skiers in the east" leading the Panthers with top four performances in both events. In the 10km classic, Kuzzy took fourth, just 35 seconds off the pace set by UVM's Ethan Foster. Making his first carnival appearance of the season, Beau Baldock '07 took 11th followed by Dan Skold '07 in 18th.

Saturday's 20km freestyle mass start proved even better for the Panther men with Kuzzy moving up one spot to reach the podium, once again behind UVM's Foster and Lowell Bailey. Baldock skated his way to another 11th place finish, followed by Jimmy Ades '08 in 13th, Jake Whitcomb '06 in 14th and Skold in 20th.

On the women's side, the Panthers started to show some improvement, placing two skiers in the top 10 in Saturday's 15km freestyle mass start. Evelyn Dong '07 continued to impress her coaches with an eighth place finish in the freestyle after reaching as high as fourth position during the race. Jenny Jorvig '06 posted a solid ninth place, while Claire Anderson '06 scored for the Panthers in 18th. Dartmouth's Alison Crocker took the victory to complete the double after winning on Friday, leading the Big Green into three out of the top four places both days.

Friday's 5km classic showcased the women's depth, placing all six racers in the top 30. Jorvig led the Panthers with a 12th place finish, followed by Dong in 20th, Taylor Leach '06 in 21st, Lizzie Torkelson '07 in 22nd, Anderson in 23rd and Tyne Pike-Sprenger '05 in 26th.

Coach Aldrich praised Kuzzy's consistent results and noted surprise contributions from Dong and Ades. Encouraged by the squad's performance Aldrich said, "We have had exceptional individual performances but our results thus far have not been indicative of the team's overall ability. This past weekend the team started to show their ability and I believe we will see continued improvement as we near the end of the season and the Eastern Championships on our home course at Middlebury."

Prior to the UVM Carnival, the Panthers took third at the St. Michael's Carnival on Jan. 28 and 29, finishing just 39 points behind second place Dartmouth and 84 behind first place UVM.

On the alpine side, the men struggled in the giant slalom at Smugglers Notch but rebounded to win the slalom the next day. Clayton Reed '08 took second, followed by Rusten in fifth and Alex Tarberry '08 in 10th. The women skied well, taking third in the giant slalom and second in the slalom. Hughes and Lindsay Brush collected top 10 finishes in each event, while Martin took sixth in the slalom.

Kuzzy paced the nordic squad with a fifth place in the 10km classic and a third place in the 10km pursuit, while Dong was the top female finisher for the Panthers both days.

The Panthers next take part in the Dartmouth Carnival on Feb. 11.