Three Podium Finishes Highlight First Day at Bates Carnival

Friday, January 16

Sunday River Resort and Black Mountain, Maine

TBA

Dartmouth College

Day One

Three Podium Finishes Highlight First Day at Bates Carnival

1/16/2015 9:07:00 PM | Skiing

By: Dartmouth

RUMFORD/NEWRY, Maine — After the first day of competition at the Bates Carnival, the Dartmouth Big Green finds themselves in second place with 426 points, just 21 behind the leader, Vermont, and 64 ahead of third-place New Hampshire. Dartmouth enjoyed a podium finish in the men's 20K Classic and two more in the women's giant slalom as youth ruled the day for the Big Green to kick off carnival season.

Coming off a terrific performance at the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Michigan, sophomore Patrick Caldwell (Lyme, N.H.) paced a strong contingent of Dartmouth Nordic skiers in the 20K Classic race on the Black Mountain course by claiming second place in 59:33.1, barely five seconds off the pace set by Carleton's Colin Abbott (59:27.7).

Fellow sophomore Fabian Stocek (Jilemnice, Czech Republic) narrowly missed out on joining Caldwell on the podium, skating across the finish line in 59:53.6, right on the heels of Frederic Touchette of the University of Laval (59:52.2) in third place. Senior captain Silas Talbot (Anchorage, Alaska) also broke the one-hour mark in 59:58.7 to take sixth overall. Among NCAA skiers, however, the trio finished first, second and fourth, as they tallied 125 points for the team, well ahead of second-place Vermont with 98.

The other discipline to take a trip to the podium for the Big Green was the women's alpine squad in the giant slalom at Sunday River as a pair of freshmen bolted near the top of the leaderboard in second and third place. Libby Gibson (Jamaica, Vt.) made her collegiate debut memorable by recording the fastest run of any competitor to finish second overall with a combined time of 2:13.16 in her two runs. Her classmate, Foreste Peterson (Berkeley, Calif.), nearly matched her time with the second-fastest first run and third-fastest second run, coming in third in 2:13.31.

The only other skier to break 2:15.00 was the victor, Vermont's Elise Tefre (2:12.92). Kelly Moore (Ottawa, Ontario), another freshman, was the other Dartmouth skier to earn points for the team, finishing in 13th at 2:16.55. Yet the Catamounts were able to take first in the team standings, edging Dartmouth, 122-118.

The men's alpine team had its own freshman perform well. Brian McLaughlin (Topsfield, Mass.) just missed standing on the podium after his first collegiate race, claiming fourth with a two-run time of 2:11.54. Not far behind was sophomore Dylan Brooks (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) who took sixth overall with his combined time of 2:12.07, and senior captain Ben Morse (Carrabassett Valley, Maine) had a solid two runs to place 12th in 2:13.01. The three scored 108 points for the Big Green, good for third behind Middlebury (121) — which featured two of the top three skiers in the event — and Vermont (113).

Junior Corey Stock (Lincoln, Mass.) paced the women's Nordic squad by placing seventh in the 15K Classic in 49:48.8, while freshman Cara Piske (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and senior Carly Wynn (Queensbury, N.Y.) finished 21st (52:18.7) and 23rd (52:41.2), respectively. Dartmouth tied with Carleton for fifth place with 75 points, while Vermont edged out Middlebury, 114-109, to win the event.

The Big Green return to each venue tomorrow to compete in the slalom and freestyle races.