STOWE, VT--Williams stands in 5th place at the Dartmouth Carnival after the first day's competitions. The nordic races were moved to Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont due to a lack of snow. Friday meant freestyle competitions, 10 kilometers for the men and 5 for the women. Friday's giant slalom, meanwhile, was held at the Dartmouth Skiway in Hanover.
First-year Will Wicherski led a triad of consecutive Williams finishers in the men's nordic race. Wicherski rounded the 10-kilometer course in 27 minutes, 20 seconds, which was good for 15th place. Wicherski, who took last weekend off to continue training for his upcoming World Junior Championships, was a welcome sight back on the trails for the Ephs.
Dimitri Luthi was just 12 seconds and one place behind his teammate, as the senior captain grabbed 16th in 27:32. He narrowly edged out another teammate, sophomore Isaac Hoenig. Hoenig, a sophomore from Sudbury, Massachusetts, had perhaps the best race of his season, rounding the course in 27:33 and took 17th place.
The 15-16-17 finish was supported by first-year Vanya Rybkin, who was 21st (27:43), and junior Ian Nesbitt, who was 29th (27:59).
Patrick Johnson continued his streak of carnival dominance. The Middlebury senior finished in 25:50, 25 seconds clear of the field, to extend an impressive winning streak. Dartmouth, though, grabbed two of the top four places to claim top team honors with 118 points. UVM was second with 116, and Middlebury was third with 114. Williams was next, in fourth, with 78 points.
Christina Knapp led the Williams women, who couldn't crack the top 30 but packed in their finishers after that. Knapp, a junior from Anchorage, skied the 5-kilometer loop in 15:28, good for 33rd place. Hannah Smith, a first-year from Wellesley, Massachusetts, continued her climb up the results page, finishing in a time of 15:34, good for 35th place.
Kristen Halvorsen rounded out the scoring for the Ephs, taking 39th place in 15:48.
Becca Bell was 45th in 15:58. Hannah Hausman and Holly Whitney also cracked the top fifty.
The women scored 49 points, good enough for eighth place in the team event. The University of Vermont packed 3 in the top 5 to claim the team win with 130 points. Right on their heels, however, was Dartmouth, led by race winner Sophie Caldwell (13:47).
Geordie Lonza had another great day for the women's alpine team. The junior from Mammoth Lakes, CA continued her recent trend on the podium. Her first run, 57.68 seconds, left her in third place. A second run of 56.63 was the second-fastest in the field and gave her a final finish in third, just five hundredths of a second out of second place.
Laurel Carter skied two steady runs to support Lonza. The senior captain's two-run total of 1:56.41 put her in ninth place. Right on the heels of the familiar one-two punch, however, was Shannon Campbell. The sophomore used a strong second run to propel her into the top ten to complete the scoring for the Ephs.
Sarah Cottrill (1:57.78) was next across the line for Williams. The women's team was third for the event with 105 points, not far behind UNH, who scored 109. UVM was the event winner behind an individual win from Kate Ryley (1:53.34) who took first by nearly a full second.
Carson Houle was the top men's alpine finisher on the day. The first-year from Amherst, New Hampshire cracked the top 30 with a two-run time of 1:54.33.
Victor Major was the only other Eph to complete two runs. Major was in the top 25 after a fast first run, and slipped to 36th for the day.
UVM swept the top 4 spots to claim a dominant team victory with 141 points. Williams was 11th.
As a team, however, Williams climbed to a tie for 5th by the day's completion. UVM leads with 500 points, while Williams and Bates each have 262. Racing action resumes Saturday.
Complete results can be found at http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results12/doc12.htm
