Dartmouth Skiing Remains Unbeaten with Home-Course Carnival Win

Friday, February 13

Dartmouth Skiway, Lyme, N.H.

TBA

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth Winter Carnival

Dartmouth Skiing Remains Unbeaten with Home-Course Carnival Win

2/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Skiing

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. -- Dartmouth freshman Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) made her collegiate ski racing debut a memorable one, capturing her second race Saturday and leading Dartmouth to another win on the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) carnival circuit - the Big Green's fourth win in four weeks.

Caldwell, who missed the first three weeks of the EISA season while competing at the World Junior Championships, dominated the field in Saturday's 10-kilometer
freestyle race at Oak Hill, winning the race in 29:53.9. Teammates Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) and Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.) completed the Big Green's podium sweep, taking second and third places. Team captain and Dartmouth senior Hannah Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt.) finished 5th, positioning four Big Green athletes in the top-5. Freshman Erika Flowers (Bozeman, Mt.) took 12th, while teammate Chelsea Little (Lyme, N.H.) finished in 33rd place.

In a tight, tactical 15-kilometer freestyle mass-start event, the cross country men rallied back and forth within the leading pack. While the Big Green led at points throughout the race, it was Middlebury skier Simi Hamilton that pulled out on top with a time of 38:06.5. Franz Bernstein of the University of Vermont placed second, and Tim Reynolds of Middlebury took third. Dartmouth's first finishers were sophomore Nils Koons (Sidney, Maine) in 4th place and freshman Eric Packer (Anchorage, Ak.) in 5th. Junior Patrick O'Brien (Putney, Vt.) placed 10th in a sprint to the finish. Dartmouth seniors Glenn Randall (Collbran, Colo.) and Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess (Bend, Ore.) took 15th and 17th, respectively, and team captain Ben Koons (Sidney, Maine) finished in 23rd place.

On the alpine side, Dartmouth sophomore Courtney Hammond (Mercer Island, Wash.) took the lead once again in Saturday's slalom competition, with a winning time of 1:38.07. UVM skiers Megan Ryley and Jilyne McDonald took second and third places. Dartmouth junior Hayley Jones (Whitehouse, N.J.) finished 4th, and freshman teammate Erin Fucigna (Hopkinton, Mass.) took 14th place. Junior Tina Roberts (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and sophomore Kelsey Roddick (Galena, Ill.) both had great first runs, but after trouble in the second run, finished 24th and 32nd, respectively.

William Ford of the University of New Hampshire dominated the men's slalom event with a time of 1:33.62, followed by David Donaldson of UVM and Sean McNamara of UNH to round out the podium. However, the Big Green displayed another strong day of racing. Finishing first and second for Dartmouth were seniors Rusty Heise (Higganum, Conn.) in 6th place and Charly Ligety (Park City, Utah) in 12th. Freshmen Trevor Leafe (Monroe, N.H.) and Luke McLaughry (Norwich, Vt.) took 23rd and 24, while junior Francis Fortin-Houle (Repentigny, Que.) was close behind in 26th place.

With a combined score of 921 points, the Big Green more than controlled its home carnival events, leaving Middlebury College a safe distance behind in second place with 842 points. The University of Vermont was third in the team standings with 779 points.

Middlebury College will host the next carnival on February 20-21 at the Rikert Ski Touring Center and the Middlebury Snowbowl.

For complete races results, visit the EISA web site at www.eisaskiing.org.