Middlebury gets fourth carnival win of the season, edging UVM at Williams

Middlebury gets fourth carnival win of the season, edging UVM at Williams{mosimage}Middlebury College wrapped up its fourth carnival win of the season on Sunday with strong results in both alpine and cross-country skiing.

The Panthers, trailing UVM by a point after the first day of racing, edged UVM 663.5 points to 646.5 in the Williams College Carnival with strong efforts at Jiminy Peak and Prospect Mountain in western Massachusetts.

The Panthers took dominating wins in the men’s and women’s freestyle sprint relays at Jiminy Peak and did enough in the men’s and women’s slalom, finishing second and third, to overcome UVM’s slim first-day lead and capture the program’s fourth carnival victory ever — and fourth in five events this season.

Garrott Kuzzy’s blistering anchor leg in the men’s relay gave Middlebury, with Colin Rodgers and Beau Baldock, a time of 33:33.2, good for a 38-second win over UVM’s team of Ryan Foster, Ethan Foster and Lowell Bailey.

The Panthers’ Kate Whitcomb, Kate Newick and Claire Anderson raced off to a time of 38:09.5 to best New Hampshire by more than a minute in the women’s relay. Dartmouth was third (39:45.1), edging UVM’s team of Kate Crawford, Emily Klemp and Emilia Demarchis by a half-second.

Paul McDonald, Erik Kankainen and Karl Johnson gave Dartmouth a perfect sweep in the men’s slalom. The Catamounts, led by fourth-place Matt Knittle (1:44.21), put four skiers in the top 10 to take second. Johnny Davidson was fifth in 1:44.93, and Paul Epstein and Hunter Kaltsas came in eighth and ninth. John Rusten’s seventh-place finish led Middlebury to third.

Colby’s Jenni and Abbi Lathrop finished 1-2 in the women’s slalom to help the White Mules to a 0.5-point win over Middlebury. Lindsay Brush and Laura Scripture came in fourth and sixth, respectively, for the Panthers, and Tara Martin was 13th. UVM’s Madaileine Sparks-Krebs was fourth and Erin Mascolino 10th, but Amy Cochran, Hilary McCloy and Jane Lemasurier did not finish.

The Catamounts have one more shot at the Panthers before nationals, but they’ll have to do it on Middlebury’s home turf. The Panthers host their carnival, which doubles as the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association championship, February 27 and 28 at the Middlebury Snow Bowl and the Rikert Ski Touring Center in Hancock, Vermont.