Dartmouth Skiers Fare Well at U.S. Cross Country Championships

Friday, January 2

Houghton, Mich.

TBA

Dartmouth College

U.S. National Championships (Cross-Country)

Dartmouth Skiers Fare Well at U.S. Cross Country Championships

1/13/2015 3:53:00 PM | Skiing

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — Before the carnival season gets under way this weekend at Bates, the U.S. Cross Country Championships took place in Houghton, Michigan, and current members and alumni of the Dartmouth ski team fared quite well at the week-long event.

As a team, Dartmouth finished fourth in the College Cup standings in a very competitive field, and junior Corey Stock was crowned the Women's Grand Champion. Racing against a mixed field of collegiate and professional skiers, the native of Lincoln, Massachusetts, placed 21st overall with a time of 23:40.3 in the women's 10K Free, but was fifth among the college competition. In the women's 20K Classic, Stock claimed 22nd overall and fourth against the collegiate field with her time of 1:14:34.9.

Also competing in those women's races were several Big Green alumnae, including Rosie Brennan '11 who captured third (30:44.2) in the 10K Free then won the 20K Classic in 1:10:42.4. Erika Flowers '12 placed 10th and 11th in the two races, respectively, and Annie Hart '14 was right behind Flowers in the 20K Classic in 12th place.

In the men's distance races, Patrick Caldwell grabbed a podium spot in the 15K Free by taking third overall and second among the collegians with a time of 42:54.3. The sophomore snuck into the top 10 in the grueling 30K Classic thanks to his time of 1:31:39.9, which also was the second-best time among the other college skiers. His performances earned him a spot at the U23 Cross Country Skiing Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Jan. 27 through Feb. 9.

Fellow sophomore Fabian Stocek finished 11th in the college rankings of the latter race with a time of 1:36:36.4 with senior Silas Talbot 13th in 1:37:24.0. Of the Big Green alumni racing at the championships, Eric Packer '12 fared the best in the distance races, placing fourth in the 30K Classic in 1:31:19.7, while classmate Gordon Vermeer '13 claimed 18th in the 15K Free in 44:41.8.

The sprint races were swept by Dartmouth alumni with Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess '09 emerging triumphant in the men's Free and Classic sprints for his second and third national titles, while Brennan did the same on the women's side to make the first woman to win three national titles at one championship since 2010 and give her five in her career.

Both Caldwell and Talbot reached the semifinals of the men's Free sprint, the only two collegians to do so. Packer advanced to the semifinals of both the Free and Classic races, and was joined by David Sinclair '14 in the Classic semis. Meanwhile, Hart took fourth in the women's Classic sprint and reached the semis in the Free sprint, and she will join Caldwell in Kazakhstan for the U23 Cross Country Skiing Championships, two of the 10 chosen. Flowers reached the finals of the Free sprint, taking sixth overall.

Now the Dartmouth ski team will put its focus on the carnival season this weekend at Bates with the alpine races taking place at Sunday River in Newry, Maine, and the Nordic events being run at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine, on Saturday and Sunday.