Ski team feels highs then low temperatures

Author: Geoff Homer

Two and a half months - that is how long the alpine and nordic ski teams waited to experience their first collegiate competition of the season. The Panthers came out firing on all cylinders and led the St. Michael's Carnival after day one of the two-day event. Ultimately, the team finished in third place behind Dartmouth and UVM after a difficult Saturday for both squads.

When asked about the opening carnival, alpine co-captain Zeke Davisson '08 said, "There were definitely some first-carnival jitters because of a lack of racing due to the snow conditions this year, but we're really positive about where this puts us for the rest of the season."

Men's giant slalom started off the carnival season at Smugglers Notch. Putting together two fast and consistent runs, Andrew Wagner '09 was the top-finisher for the Panthers, in third place. In surprising mid-season form after a semester abroad in Paris, Alec Tarberry '08, the first-run leader, finished fourth, less than a second behind the winner, Francis Fortin-Houle from Dartmouth. Davisson rounded out the top-three with a tenth place showing, helping the Panthers take the overall GS win.

The women finished in second place in the GS behind UVM, led by Dorothy Muirhead '08 with a sixth place effort. What is most impressive is that Muirhead was the 42nd racer to come down the pitch and faced a vastly different course than the top racers. With two consistent runs, Mattie Ford '09 finished 11th while first-year Leah McLaughry was right behind in 12th.

Over at Sleepy Hollow, the venue for the Nordic events, the women won the 5K Free while the men placed second in the 10K behind Dartmouth. New snow was a godsend, blanketing the course and making it easier for all involved. The race was an open carnival, meaning teams raced their entire squads, something that will not be the case next week. Captain Jenny Hamilton '07 led the Panthers, with a second place effort. Next was Cassidy Edwards '09 in fourth while Robyn Anderson '09 and Claire Luby '10 tied for seventh.

On the men's side, Tim Reynolds '09 was the top Panther in fifth place followed by Simi Hamilton '09 in sixth. Matthew Johnson '08 rounded out Middlebury with a 17th place showing.

Both teams struggled to duplicate the overall performance Saturday as weather played a major factor. For the alpine team, the fickle nature of slalom proved difficult, as a few Panthers did not finish their runs due to course conditions. The weather was also a strong factor. Six inches of snow had been deposited on the course the night before, and extremely cold temperatures, high winds and at times white-out conditions existed, adding to the difficulty.

The Nordic skiers also had a challenging day. Dartmouth blew away the competition winning both the men's and women's sprint relays while the Middlebury men finished in third and the women fourth. The women also suffered because the conditions made it a struggle to properly prepare the skis for the event. Ski tuning is a science that is tough to master, and selecting the proper wax is crucial for success.

At Sleepy Hollow, the women's 3x3 sprint relay team of Jenny Hamilton, Edwards and Anderson finished in fourth place. The men skied better, but were unable to overcome a dominant Dartmouth relay team. Johnson, Simi Hamilton and Reynolds carried the Panthers to a third place showing.

The alpine women were the only ones to experience success on Saturday as they placed four skiers in the top eight to win the slalom in convincing fashion. Ford finished second while McLaughry was fourth. Captain Lindsay Brush '07 skied smoothly to a seventh place finish followed right behind by Krissie Poehling '08. It is clear that the women have what it takes to dominate in the alpine events, and will receive a boost this weekend when NCAA Champion Megan Hughes '08 returns from competing in the 2007 FIS World University Games in Bardonnechia, Italy.

The men were not so lucky. After a sixth place first run, Captain Andrew Everett '07 failed to finish his second run as his ski ejected after skiing into a rut caused by deteriorating conditions from the man-made snow. Wagner, fourth after the first run, experienced difficulty at the top half of his second run and did not score for the Panthers. Slalom specialist Clayton Reed '08 showed promising form after returning from an injury and led the Panthers with a fifth place finish. Davisson finished 11th while Tarberry was 15th.

After a week of training, the Panthers head to North Conway, N.H., to compete in the University of New Hampshire Carnival. The alpine events will take place at Attitash, while the Nordic team will compete at Jackson XC Center. Both sites will also host the 2007 NCAA Championships. According to Davisson, "We're going down with a great sense of confidence in how we're skiing. We're going to ski every weekend expecting to win."