JACKSON, NH--The Williams ski teams headed north to the University of New Hampshire carnival on Friday for the first of two days of competitive action. Inclement weather forced the cancellation of the scheduled alpine races, so the nordic teams battled through tough conditions and shouldered the load of the first day's scoring. Williams sits in sixth place as a team with 121 points, within striking distance of Bates and UNH, who are tied for fourth with 132 points. Dartmouth leads with 274.
Friday's classic sprint races were held at the Jackson Touring Center. Everyone skied the course in a qualifying round before each field was pruned to 36 competitors. Those 36 proceeded through head-to-head heats to determine their final places.
Three Eph men qualified for the heats. Dimitri Luthi, the senior captain, skied a blazing time of 3:34.7 in his initial round, which seeded him fourth. Unfortunately, he was unable to advance out of the first round of heats and finished 25th.
Things turned out better for Phil Tosteson. The junior made it around in 3:41.1, 20th overall, but moved through the heats to the semifinals. He finished in 12th to lead his team. Sophomore Kalle Jahn was the other Williams skier to make it to the heats. He qualified in 33rd and moved up to 28th.
Two Eph men were left just on the outside looking in. Senior Erik Anderson qualified in 3:49.66, and first-year Vanya Rybkin came in just behind him, at 3:49.79. The cutoff, unfortunately, was one place higher, barely two-tenths of a second in front of Anderson.
Their results left the nordic men in fifth place for the first day. Dartmouth, led by individual champion Sam Tarling, were the top men's team.
Three Eph women made it to the heats on Friday. Elena Luthi, a first-year, continued her rise up the leaderboard. She actually qualified in 13th, skiing the course in 4:21.1, and made it through to finish in 20th for the day.
Sophomore Kristin Halvorsen skied into 34th place in qualifying, and stayed exactly where she was seeded for her final place. First-year Jenna Maddock, skiing unofficially for the team due to roster restrictions, ended in 35th.
Holly Whitney just missed qualifying, as the senior finished in 39th to round out the Eph scoring. The Williams women ended the day in 9th.
Dartmouth's Sophie Caldwell emerged as the individual winner, qualifying in first and cruising through the heats to cement her spot atop the leaderboard by winning the final.
UNH carnival action resumes Saturday.
