HANOVER, NH--The Williams ski team finished in 5th place at the Dartmouth Carnival as competition wrapped up Saturday. The second day's events were distance classic races at the nordic venue and the slalom for the alpine team.
The women's alpine team was the highest points-getter on the day, coming in second in the slalom.
It was senior Laurel Carter's turn to lead the Ephs on Saturday with a strong 4th-place finish. Carter's first run was blazing fast and left her just two-hundredths of a second off the lead. A strong second run (48.24) left her fourth.
Right on her heels was Geordie Lonza. The junior, who was on the podium Friday, again cracked the top five on Saturday. Lonza's two-run total was 1:39.47, just three-tenths behind her teammate.
Sarah Cottrill skied her way into the scoring for the Ephs as well, following the top two with a twelfth-place finish. The first-year moved up the results page by skiing the eighth-fastest second run in the field.
Shannon Campbell was 21st for the Ephs in 1:43.15. As a team, the women were second only to UVM, who put two racers in the top three.
The men's alpine team had a better day Saturday, placing two skiers in the top 30. Sean Cummiskey and Chris Nocek finished almost identically in 27th and 28th. Cummiskey, a senior, skied runs of 48.87 and 48.59 for a total of 1:37.46. But Nocek did everything except catch up to him with a second run of 48.13 to finish in 1:37.48.
Dylan Thomas wasn't far behind in 34th. UVM continued its streak of dominance by sweeping the top four places for the second day in a row and grabbing 141 points. The Williams men finished in 7th.
At the nordic races, which were pushed to Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont due to a lack of snow, the skiers endured distance classic competitions.
Dimitri Luthi was the fastest Eph on the day in the men's 20-kilometer race. The senior, who prefers the classical technique, skied much of the race in the middle of the top ten and ended the day in 12th, in a time of 59 minutes, 43 seconds.
Will Wicherski, the top Williams skier on Friday, was next for the men. He finished in 1 hour, 48 seconds, which was good for 22nd place.
His classmate Vanya Rybkin showed why the Ephs should be a force in the years to come by finishing shortly thereafter. The first-year was 24th in 1:01:03.
Ian Nesbitt also cracked the top 30 for the men, who finished 5th on the day. Dartmouth dominated at the top, with three of the top four racers, including individual race winner Eric Packer.
The Williams women were led Saturday by Christina Knapp, who skied the 15-kilometer course in 51 minutes, 45 seconds. She was the first of three Ephs to crack the top thirty. Knapp was 25th, and was followed closely by Kristen Halvorsen in 28th and Hannah Smith in 29th.
Halvorsen, a sophomore, had her highest finish of the year and finished in 52:02, while Smith continued to climb the results page as well.
The women were 7th for the day with 56 points. UVM, led by Lucy Garrec in 47:48, swept the podium and collected 141 points.
The race was emblematic of the entire day, during which UVM separated itself even further from the field. The Catamounts finished with 982 points, well ahead of second-place Dartmouth. Williams moved past Bates and finished 5th with 548 points.
Complete results can be found at http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results12/doc12.htm
