Fourth place finishes abound for ski teams at Carnival

Author: Martin Breu

The Middlebury ski teams are nothing if not consistent. When the snow settled this weekend, the Panthers found themselves in fourth place overall, the same position they enjoyed in the first two carnivals of this season. Dartmouth continued its dominance of the college circuit, winning its third consecutive carnival of the year. The University of Vermont claimed second place and the University of New Hampshire rounded out the podium with a third-place finish.

The UVM carnival kicked off on Friday with the Alpine men's and women's Giant Slalom (GS) race. Co-captains Andrew Wagner '09 and Mattie Ford '09 paced the Panthers, with Wagner tying for fourth and Ford placing eighth as David Donaldson of the University of Vermont and Courtney Hammond of Dartmouth took the individual wins. The GS event left Middlebury in third place for the men and in fourth for the women.

Saturday saw both the alpine and nordic racers hitting the slopes. The Alpine women excelled in the slalom event, capturing second overall while the men faltered into sixth on the day. The Middlebury women placed three in the top 10, led by Ford in fifth place, followed by Natasha Woodworth '11 in sixth and co-captain Tucker Burton '09 in ninth. Wagner led the men again with a seventh-place finish, but the rest of the men continued to have a tough day.

On the nordic side of the carnival, the women and men raced a 5- and 10-km skate race, respectively. The women were led to a third-place team finish by Elise Moody-Roberts '12 in fourth place; Robyn Anderson '10 followed in ninth place. The Panther men ended the day in fifth place, with top finisher Tim Reynolds '09 placing ninth.

Sunday was the final event of the UVM carnival, with the Nordic men and women racing 15- and 10-km races, respectively. With fifth- and sixth-place finishes, Moody-Roberts and Robyn Anderson '10 posted the best results for Middlebury. Chase Marston '12 followed directly behind in seventh, putting the Middlebury women in third place on the day. After struggling to achieve dominance on the course all day, the men closed out the race in fourth.

Three of the men's racers were missing in Sunday's race. Tim Reynolds '09 was sick and could not start. Simi Hamilton '09 was on his way back from Praz de Lys, France where he raced in the Under-23 World Championships; his best finish there was 17th in the sprint. Patrick Johnson '11 was also traveling back from France, where he competed in the World Junior Championships, finishing 19th in the 10-km skate race.

Next on the college racing calendar is the Dartmouth Carnival this coming weekend. Friday's events will be a Giant Slalom for the Alpine team and a ten- and five-km classic race for the nordic men and women, respectively. Feb. 14 will see a Slalom race for the alpine team and a 15/10km mass start skate race for the Nordic team.