Ski team was top dog at Catamount carnival

Author: Anna Furney

While the rest of Middlebury's student body was off tanning on beaches and by coastlines for the duration of Feb. Break, the Middlebury ski team stayed along the Eastern seaboard. Its two weekend trips to Stowe and to Dartmouth for the University of Vermont (UVM) and Dartmouth College winter carnivals were just as fun, though, as the Panthers took home their first carnival victory in over five years.

The weekend of Feb. 1 ended up being a date to celebrate, as the alpine and Nordic teams' combined results ensured the Panthers a cumulative carnival win over the UVM Catamounts and Dartmouth's 'Big Green.' The Panthers finished with 628 points, followed by UVM (624.5), Dartmouth (604) and University of New Hampshire (513). Middlebury captured second place in six of the eight events, winning the women's slalom and placing third in the men's freestyle sprints, an event in which Tim Reynolds '09 won gold.

The Nordic team was led on the women's side by Alexa Turzian '11, who finished fourth in the 10K classic race (34:09) and seventh in the freestyle sprint held at Stowe's Trapp Family Lodge. For the men, it was Reynolds and his classmate Simi Hamilton '09 - who placed third in the 10K classic - who carried the load.

The alpine team showed off their brawn and skill - taking on Stowe's fearsome "Hayride" trail - a pitch with as much fall-away as it has vertical drop. Lindsay Kraft '11 was Middlebury's top finisher in the women's giant slalom (GS) race, placing second overall, followed by Tucker Vest-Burton '09, who finished eighth. Vest-Burton described the races at Stowe Mountain as, "one of the greatest highlights of [her] season, if not [her] entire college racing career." Having not won a single carnival during her three years at Middlebury, she described the women's team's voracity to win as something of a saving grace.

"Both the men and the women's teams really knew what they had to do to win the carnival," she said. "The women had to step it up and the men had to tone it down and bring in some solid finishes."

For the men's team, Andrew Wagner '09 led the way in the GS, earning seventh place. Alec Tarberry '08 and Joey Swensson '08 captured ninth and 11th places, respectively. Clayton Reed '08 led the pack in the slalom, placing seventh, while Tarberry finished just behind him in eighth, tailed closely by Wagner in ninth.

Standing in a huddle at the bottom of the pitch, members of the team waited for the final calculations to determine their standing. Both relieved and delighted, they learned that their efforts had earned them the carnival's combined alpine and Nordic title.

The following weekend of Feb. 8 also proved fruitful for the Panthers, who finished second at Dartmouth's carnival. Unsurprisingly, Dartmouth captured first place on their home hill with a collective 725 points, followed by Middlebury (697), UVM (664) and UNH (647).

Each weekend, the team competed with Dartmouth for the overall win. While UVM has historically been Middlebury's bigger rival, this season it has seen Dartmouth as a greater potential threat, as dual strength from both the Nordic and alpine squads create a collective team with tremendous talent.

Upon reflection of the season thus far, both Vest-Burton and Wagner see the potential to consistently beat 'The Big Green' as a "doable task." They do not view Dartmouth's recent dominance as a result of superior talent, but rather as a reflection of circumstance, consistency and just a little bit of luck.

Ski team fans are hoping to see that luck strike twice with this weekend's upcoming carnival at Williams' Jimminy Peak, and then again, shortly thereafter, when the competition takes place at Middlebury's own Snow Bowl on the weekend of Feb. 22.