Catamounts Come Out on Top in EISA Carnival
After a week of rain, the pitch at Smugglers’ Notch had firmed up in time for the St. Michael’s College Carnival, which took place this weekend. The host school’s neighbor, the University of Vermont (UVM) Catamounts, took their nordic team’s lead into the alpine portion of the series to win the carnival with 956 points. Dartmouth College came in a close second with 946 points with strong performances by Foreste Peterson and Tanguy Neff.
Peterson won the women’s GS on Friday with a time of 1:51.64, followed closely by Paula Moltzan of UVM in second, 0.14 seconds back. Fellow Catamount Josefine Selvaag finished in third, 0.56 seconds out of first place.
Moltzan used a blistering second run to move back into podium position. After Friday’s first run, Moltzan stood in 17th place, but after winning run two by 0.79 seconds, she nearly overtook Peterson for the win.
“I was just pretty fired up and pretty upset about first run,” Moltzan said. “I was skiing well and had a big mistake that really affected my run, so second run I decided to send it as hard as I could and gave it everything I had.”
With her second run, she was able to join her teammates Selvaag and Francesca English in the top five.
“We’ve got some really fast freshman, and it’s super exciting to see them get their first podium, first top-ten and first top-15,” Moltzan said. “It’s awesome to see this team developing.”
The men’s race on the other hand was entirely dominated by one athlete, Tanguy Neff. Neff took both runs to win with an overall time of 1:45.76, 1.20 seconds ahead of Sandy Vietze from UVM. Tomas Woolson from Dartmouth took third place, 1.86 seconds back of his teammate.
Neff said that the snow suited him on Friday.
“I love hard snow,” Neff said. “That’s maybe a reason why I came to the east, and it’s pretty technical with a pretty big pitch. I was a little worried that my top flat section wouldn’t be as good because I’m not that explosive out of the start.”
Neff also said that now that he has solid footing for the year, he might be able to take some more chances.
“I think it will allow me to risk a little more for the four carnivals the rest of the season,” Neff said.
Neff didn’t stop after the GS. He won the slalom, albeit by a smaller margin. Neff led the circuit with an overall time of 1:36.41. UVM’s Max Roeisland took second place, 0.55 seconds back and Plymouth State University’s Karl Kuss rounded out the collegiate podium 1.43 second out.
There were more familiar faces on the women’s podium as Moltzan took her first win of the carnival season with a time of 1:26.16. Alexa Dlouhy from Dartmouth finished in second 1.07 seconds back, and Peterson finished in third place, 1.55 seconds behind.
After the St. Michael’s College series finished, there was still racing to be had. Because the Colby College Carnival slalom was postponed, the EISA circuit traveled to Sugarbush Resort on Sunday to compete in a makeshift NCAA National Championships qualifying race.
The University of Vermont likely wished the race counted towards the carnival results as they took four of the six possible podium slots.
Moltzan won for the second day in a row with an overall time of 1:36.30 while Dlouhy, 0.78 seconds back, followed her again in second place. English finished in third, 0.97 seconds back.
Roeisland took his first win of the season on Sunday with a time of 1:24.85. Vietze followed in second place, 0.44 seconds back and Neff finished in third, 0.46 seconds back.
Roeisland said that his win comforts him moving forward.
“It takes some of the pressure off,” Roeisland continued. “If I make our team, then I’ll for sure have a good starting position in slalom for NCAA’s with a 1 and 2 in the first couple of races. That’s one thing, but my slalom was good in the beginning of the season. In the fall, I struggled a little bit in training, but I really pulled it together for these two races which is a confidence boost.”
Complete results from the St. Michael’s College Carnival can be found here.
About the Author: Chris Keating
