Ski team places second twice

Author: Anna Furney

The Middlebury College Panthers have sunk their teeth into the 2007-2008 ski season with two solid second-place finishes at the Bates and St. Lawrence Carnivals. Both the Alpine and Nordic teams seem to have found some pure talent in their first-year classes, while the veterans have provided strong and reliable performances.

Most recently, at the St. Lawrence Carnival on Jan. 18 and 19, Andrew Wagner '09 dominated the men's slalom, taking the top spot on the podium and proving himself infallible even amongst a pool of ex-U.S. ski team athletes. Alpine Coach Stever Bartlett was delighted with Wagner's performance.

"He once again was a point- scoring machine for us," said Bartlett. "His consistency is brilliant."

Wagner was part of Middlebury's impressive performance at the St. Lawrence Carnival, as the team had strong finishes on both the Nordic and Alpine sides. Coming 32.5 points shy of Dartmouth College, the Panthers beat the University of Vermont (UVM) and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to earn second place, for the second straight weekend.

Megan Hughes '08 raced to third position in the giant slalom (GS), followed by teammates Lindsay Kraft '11 in sixth, Mattie Ford '09 in eighth and Krissie Poehling '08 in ninth. On the men's side, Wagner proved himself to be a consistent and reliable team member by mounting another podium and taking home third place. Joseph Swensson '08 followed Wagner in seventh, while Skip Heise '08 was the college's third-best male competitor of the day in 20th.

Slalom the next day for the women was exciting for Tucker Burton '09, who captured sixth place, followed by Ford in eighth and Poehling in 11th, performances that pleased Bartlett.

"Tucker Mattie and Krissie all stacked in the top 10 in the slalom to keep the dream alive for the overall score," said Bartlett. "They skied to win and did not hold back. We knew that we had some points to make up after Dartmouth dominated the Nordic, and the girls did everything they could."

A week earlier, in the first carnival of the year, hosted by Bates College in Maine on Jan. 11 and 12, Middlebury secured second position behind Dartmouth College but ahead of both UVM and the host. While the men's and women's teams both placed second in opening GS event, it was the excitement generated by Alec Tarberry's '08 GS win that highlighted the team's individual finishes. Other notable results in the GS came from Joey Swensson '08, who finished 11th, and Jacob Lund '08 in 18th position.

Challenged by early-season injuries, the women's team captain, Hughes, had little to be troubled by in the season's first day of racing. She finished in a solid sixth, closely followed by her teammates Burton, Kraft and Poehling in 10th, 11th and 12th places respectively.

The Jan. 12 slalom event was a success on the men's side, with Wagner taking third and Tarberry securing fourth position. Williams College senior Charles Christianson and Dartmouth's David Chodounsky rallied for first and second place and will be athletes to watch throughout the season. Clayton Reed '08 was close behind in sixth place, while Swensson found himself in 12th and Jonathan Hunter '10 in 17th place.

An exciting slalom finish from the women came from Burton, who challenged the field and wound up with the second-fastest two-run combined time. Poehling had a strong day of slalom, finishing in fifth position, while Ford and Hughes tied for seventh place.

On the Nordic team, Middlebury's Alexa Turzain '11 won the 10K classical in 31:50 and took second in the 5K free. Robyn Anderson '09 wound up in 11th in the 5K and eighth in the 10K, Sophie McClelland placed 12th in the 5K and Cassidy Edwards '09 secured 11th place in the 10K.

The men's team was led by Vermonter Tim Reynolds '09, who captured second in the 10K free and ended up fourth in the 10K classical. Patrick Johnson '11 raced to an exciting second in the classical as well as 10th in the freestyle. Finally, it was Mike Mommsen '10 who tied up the men's Nordic team with 30th place in the freestyle and 17th in the classic.

Bartlett is optimistic going into the next couple of races. "The team is in good spirits and we are not focusing on the 'what ifs' that have plagued us in the last two carnivals," said Bartlett. "The 'what ifs' actually give us positive energy because we know that if we bring all that we can with no mistakes we can own the hill. We have faired well despite injuries to two of our major point scorers from last year. We hope to see Zeke Davisson ['08] and Leah McLaughry ['10] recover, find their pace and be ready to race soon."

With a deep pool of talent only to get more dynamic with the return of Davisson and McLaughry, the team can only project great things for the upcoming carnivals.