WILLIAMSTOWN--Buoyed by the star power atop its women's alpine team, the Williams ski team cruised into second place after the first day of its home carnival competition.
Although a lack of snow restricted the nordic competition to one race Saturday morning in Craftsbury, Vermont, the downhill teams took to their home mountain, Jiminy Peak, for the slalom.
It was all Williams in the women's race. Laurel Carter '12 took the lead after the first run, which she made in 45.61 seconds, and ensured the individual victory by also skiing the fastest run the second time down as well. Her winning time, 1:35.31, was almost a second ahead of second place.
But as has been the theme of the year, the top two Williams women weren't far apart. Geordie Lonza '13 skied into second place after her first run--setting she and Carter a full second ahead of the field--and stayed right there, finishing in a two-run time of 1:36.20.
But as impressive as the show of power at the top was the depth of the women's team. Annie Leiter was the next Eph to finish, snagging 10th place in 1:38.78 in the junior's best finish of the season.
Sarah Cottrill '15 skied the eighth-fastest second run in 50.45 to leapfrog several skiers. The first-year finished in 1:39.11 to take 14th place. Shannon Campbell skied two steady runs to grab eighteenth, rounding out a day with five Williams competitors in the top 20.
The 130 points that the women earned put them comfortably in first, 27 ahead of second-place Bates College.
The Williams men were led by Victor Major, who cracked the top 25. Major, a first-year, skied a top-15 second run to leave him in his final position in 1:32.99.
Nicolas Tomczyk was the next-fastest Williams man on the day, throwing down a time of 1:40.16 to take 37th.
Whitney Mikell was 46th for the Ephs in 1:45.28. Dylan Thomas and Carson Houle each had solid first runs but couldn't post two clean ones in a row, ending up in 50th and 51st.
UVM swept the podium, led by Sean Higgins, and won the event with 141 points. UNH was second with 100. Williams was 9th with 43 points.
On the day, Dartmouth led with 191 points. Williams, though, was right on their heels with 173. The second-place finish is the best day of the season and puts the Ephs in prime position heading to the second day of competition.
