Ski teams open the season with success at St. Lawrence

The University of Vermont ski team kicked off its season in a dominating fashion by taking a commanding victory in the first carnival of the season, hosted by St. Laurence University. Of the eight races held last Friday and Saturday, UVM had the best team score in all but one race, in which the Catamounts finished second. Second and third place went to Dartmouth and UNH, respectively, while Middlebury finished in fourth. The most impressive performance for the Panthers came in the men’s Giant Slalom race, where the Panthers took second.
The carnival kicked off with a Giant Slalom (GS) race for the Alpine skiers on Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, NY. UVM got off to a fast start taking the top two positions on the podium in the men’s GS race, with first-year Jonathan Nordbotten taking top honors. Robert Cone ’14 was the first Panther with an impressive third place in his first college race. Bryan Shpall ’13 and Jake Lund ’11 were the next two Middlebury finishers in fifth and sixth places respectively. With three finishers in the top six, the Panther men finished a close second behind UVM.
The Middlebury women’s alpine team had a promising start to the day, but when two of their top skiers lost skis on their second runs, the team finished in seventh. Men’s team captain Bobby Poehling ’11 described the conditions as difficult and “pretty bumpy” from new fallen snow. The UVM women one-upped their men by sweeping the top three spots behind senior Lyndee Janowiak. The top three finishers for the Panthers were Lindsay Kraft ’11 in 13th, Christine Schozer ’13 in 16th and Bronwyn Oatley ’13 in 24th.
The Nordic races began with a 5km classic race for the women and a 10km race for the men. The course was a difficult lap race that was “pretty much straight up and straight down”, said men’s team co-captain Graham Egan ’11. UVM continued their winning ways taking first, third and sixth places in the men’s race; they were led by first-year Scott Patterson winning his first ever college race. Doug Debold ’12 was the best Panther finisher in 11th place, just three hundredths of a second out of the top ten. Chase Marston ’12 and Jimmy Levins ’11 finished 15th and 18th respectively.
The UVM women’s Nordic team raced even better than their men’s team, putting four Catamounts in the top five. Senior Caitlin Patterson won the women’s race, just as her younger brother had done earlier in the day. Corinne Prevot ’13 was the best Panther finisher, just missing out on a top ten finish in 11th place. Hilary Rich ’13 and Emily Attwood ’14 completed the top three for Middlebury, finishing in 20th and 23rd respectively. The Panther women tied Williams for fourth place in the first Nordic race.
After the first day of competition, UVM held a commanding lead on the team competition, but Middlebury was just one point behind UNH in third place. Temperatures plummeted overnight, causing fears that the courses would be slow. (Very cold snow is less wet than normal snow and therefore slower.) However, the sun came out on Saturday to make for a day of fast racing for both Alpine and Nordic events.
The carnival continued with a Slalom race for the Alpine racers. UVM was denied the top spot on the podium in the men’s race by Paul Atkinson of UNH who pushed Nordbotten into second. However, UVM still won the team score by sweeping places two through four. Andrew McNealus ’13 was the best Panther finisher in seventh, while Lund ’11 was not far behind in ninth. Unfortunately, despite a very promising first run, the second run gave the Panthers some trouble with staying on the course; the next Middlebury finisher was Shpall ’13 in a disappointing 31st. The Panther men ended the day in fourth place, even though they had five in the top 15 after the first run.
UVM returned to its winning ways in the women’s slalom competition behind a one-two punch by sisters Megan and Kate Ryley. Natasha Woodworth ’11 led the Panthers with a 13th place finish, while captain Nicole Dvorak ’11 and Oatley ’13 finished in 16th and 20th respectively. Dvorak admitted that the team was disappointed with the results, but pointed to the young age of the team, saying, “I think everyone was a little nervous for the first carnival. With a little more confidence and perhaps some luck, we will be a serious threat to the top-performing teams.”
Back on the Nordic trails, the UVM Catamounts continued to dominate. In the men’s 15km skate race, junior Alex Howe skied to a remarkable 50-second victory for UVM. The Dartmouth men stole the show, however, by taking the next four places and the team victory. The top finisher for Middlebury was Marston ’12 in a strong 9th place finish. Egan ’11 and first-year Ben Lustgarten ’14 finished back-to-back in 15th and 16th to be the second and third finishers for the Panthers. These solid efforts earned the Middlebury men a third place team score.
Caitlin Patterson made it two-for-two by winning her second Nordic race of the weekend in the 10km skate. Clare Egan, Graham Egan’s older sister, skied to an impressive third place finish for UNH in her first year of dedicated ski racing. Prevot ’13 was the top Middlebury finisher again in a solid 14th place. The rest of the Panther women had a tough day with Rich ’13 and Attwood ’14 finishing back-to-back in 31st and 32nd to complete the team score. The Middlebury women ended up seventh on the day. Egan was disappointed but optimistic after the first carnival, saying, “We didn’t ski as well as we are capable of skiing and as well as we will ski this season. That being said, this weekend was a solid first outing and one which we will build upon throughout the season.”