Dartmouth Edges Cats for Win at UNH Carnival

Dartmouth College came back from a narrow loss last week at the season’s opening NCAA carnival to win the UNH Carnival this weekend. The Big Green earned 986 points and beat UVM, who finished with 849. Middlebury ranked third, scoring 738 points — well ahead of fourth-place team and host UNH with 604. Colby College narrowly edged Williams College for fifth: 510 to 506.

In team scoring, Dartmouth placed first in all events but the men’s 20k classic cross-country race, meaning they swept all the alpine races while the Cats struggled, especially in slalom placing seventh in the men’s and women’s side.

In the GS races on Friday at Mittersill in Franconia, NH, Dartmouth jumped out to an early lead. The race was held on Baron’s Run, which starts steep and meanders along a long flat toward the finish near the mountain’s base.

Darthmouth’s banner day began as their men’s and women’s squads placed three finishers in the top-five of each race.

The Big Green’s Steph Currie won the women’s race in 2:13.13, just outpacing teammate Patricia Mangan (2:13.16). UVM’s Paula Moltzan came in third, nearly a full second back in 2:14.11. Emma Woodhouse (UNH) was once again in the mix, placing fourth in 2:14.25, and Dartmouth’s Audrey O’Brien made a big move from bib 33 to place fifth in 2:15.38.

Dartmouth Women’s Head Coach John Dwyer was pleased with his team’s performance.

“I was pumped,” Dwyer said. “I was really psyched for the girls. Really psyched for Steph [Currie] to get the win, and I’m really psyched for Trish [Mangan] to get second, .03 off Steph overall.

Dartmouth handily claimed the women’s GS win with 136 points. UNH came in second with 100. The Wildcats were led by Woodhouse, whose teammates Rachel Nawrocki (2:16.60) and Lisa Olsson (2:16.77) backed her up in 11th and 12th. Middlebury was third (87 points) in the women’s GS and placed two individuals in the top-10. Lucia Bailey (2:15.57) moved all the way from bib 34 to finish seventh, and Madison Lord was ninth in 2:15.95. Midd was close to having three in the top-10; unfortunately, first-run winner Caroline Bartlett lost a ski early during her second run.

In the men’s race, Dartmouth’s Drew Duffy (the winner of last week’s SL and GS races) once again finished in first, edging teammate Tanguy Nef by .11 seconds: 2:08.75 to 2:08.86. Kipling Weisel (DAR; 2:09.88) finished fourth, and the Big Green party was crashed by Midd’s Erik Arvidsson who claimed the third podium spot in 2:09.49.

It was Nef’s first weekend back racing EISA Carnivals. He has been in Europe this winter racing World Cups. Dartmouth Men’s Head Coach Peter Dodge is glad to have him back with the team, and also as a training partner for teammate Duffy and the rest of the squad.

“It’s nice having him [Nef] back,” Dodge said. “He brings a good attitude to the team, and of course gets a lot of respect from the guys for what he’s doing (on the World Cup circuit.) Drew’s fast and skiing really well, so it’s good to have that marker there. And you know, Nef now will push (the pace) even more.”

The Dartmouth men won the GS competition with 138 points, and UVM was second with 102. (The Catamounts’ Max Roeisland settled for fifth in 2:10.03, and his teammate Patrick McConville was ninth in 2:11.25.) The UNH men finished in third with 88 points, barely ahead of Middlebury (87).

In the women’s slalom race, UVM’s Laurence St-Germain put on a clinic. She won the race by nearly two seconds, stopping the clock at 1:49.77. Dartmouth’s Alexa Dlouhy came in second at 1:51.50, and Emma Woodhouse (UNH) was third (1:53.14).

After the first run, St-Germain was in third place. Teammate Paula Moltzan won the run by 0.40 seconds over Dlouhy, and St-Germain was 0.88 seconds back from the lead.

Then, in the second run, St-Germain stormed the course, winning the run by 1.70 seconds. The only competitor within two seconds of her was Dartmouth’s Patricia Mangan, who was second on the run and sixth overall (1:54.13). Moltzan failed to finish the run.

It was a thrill to see St-Germain competing (and winning) again in a Catamounts suit after taking the past two seasons off to race the World Cup circuit. UVM Assistant Coach, Tim Kelly, was pleased with the results.

“To see her let it go and ski the way she can ski on the second run. It was awesome,” Kelly said.

He noted that St-Germain was under pressure to do well as she juggles collegiate races with her international commitments.

“With her schedule — qualifying for World Champs and racing World Cups — she’s going to have a limited number of starts for us, unfortunately,” Kelly said. “She was kind of stressed out. Putting a lot of pressure on herself to get a good result, to qualify for NCAAs. I think last weekend [the season’s first Carnival] was stressful for her. Skiing well, but straddling. You could tell first run [today] that she was still not skiing to her full potential. A little tentative.”

Following St-Germain, Dlouhy, and Woodhouse: Dartmouth’s Steph Currie took fourth place (1:55.33), and her teammates Claire Thomas (1:53.62) and Mangan were fifth and sixth. Middlebury’s Lucia Bailey took seventh in 1:54.68.

The men’s race resulted in a familiar face atop the podium. Dartmouth’s Tanguy Nef (1:43.66) took the SL win by 1.50 seconds over Middlebury’s Erik Arvidsson (1:45.16). Nef’s teammate Drew Duffy — yesterday’s GS winner — came in third at 1:45.47.

Aside from the usual cast of Dartmouth skiers in the top-10 (the aforementioned Nef and Duffy, as well as Kipling Weisel (7th; 1:46.93) and Jimmy Krupka (9th; 1:47.59; stellar second run), there was a mix of EISA representation scattered at the top of the results page.

Guillaume Grand (1:45.47) of St. Mike’s was fourth overall, and UNH’s Will Bruneau-Bouchard took fifth in 1:46.53. Karl Kuus (PSU; 1:46.69) finished sixth, and Colby’s Matthew Wilson (1:47.26) took eighth. Rounding out the top-10: SLU’s Carter Armstrong, 1:47.81.

Next week is the rare off-weekend before racing picks back up at the UVM Carnival at Stowe on February 1.