LEWISTON--The Williams ski team moved up a spot to 6th place at the Bates Carnival after the second day of racing Saturday. The nordic competition was held at Black Mountain, while the alpine events were at nearby Sunday River.
The women's alpine team was the brightest spot of the weekend, winning Saturday's slalom. Geordie Lonza was the runner-up, finishing with a combined time of 1:44.66 that was two full seconds behind winner Elli Terwiel but nearly another two seconds in front of the third-place finisher. Laurel Carter stepped up to take sixth, in 1:47.58, and provided strong support for the Ephs. But the key to Williams' win may have been sophomore Shannon Campbell. Campbell improved from Friday's GS and snuck into 14th place to round out a team score of 110 points, 17 ahead of second-place Colby. Annie Leiter and Sarah Cottrill were 36th and 38th, respectively, to round out the race.
The men's alpine team moved to 8th place, improving from 11th on day 1. Junior Chris Nocek led the Ephs from 31st place with a run of 54.46. Captain Sean Cummiskey was right on his heels in 33rd after his run of 54.57. Dylan Thomas and Carson Houle rounded out the scoring for Williams. Thomas was 49th in 56.77 and Houle was 50th. The University of Vermont swept the top four spots to dominate the men's event.
The men's nordic team had a strong showing in Saturday's 10-kilometer classic race. Captain Dimitri Luthi, who prefers the classical technique, skied with the lead pack in the mass start and ended up in sixth. His time of 27:37.7 was just 12 seconds behind winner Eric Packer of Dartmouth. Will Wicherski '15 finished in 11th place for the second consecutive day, finishing in 27:44. First-year Vanya Rybkin was 24th, followed closely by Isaac Hoenig '14 in 27th. Dartmouth put three skiers in the top five to win the event with 130 points.
The women's nordic team was 8th for the second consecutive day. Elena Luthi was the first Eph across the line in 31st. The first-year finished the mass-start race in 33:55, and her teammates packed in closely behind her. Kristen Halvorsen improved nicely from Friday's race to snag 39th in 34:49. Hannah Smith in 41st, Holly Whitney in 42nd, and Hannah Hausman in 48th rounded out the Eph top five.
Williams resumes action next week at the UNH Carnival.
Complete results can be found at http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results12/bat12.htm
