Nordic Holds Slim Lead at St. Michael's; Alpine Postponed

Saturday, January 20

Huntington, Vt.

All Day

Dartmouth College

St. Michael's (Nordic Day 1)

Nordic Holds Slim Lead at St. Michael's; Alpine Postponed

1/20/2018 5:07:00 PM | Skiing

By: Dartmouth

HUNTINGTON, Vt. — The St. Michael's Carnival got underway this morning at the Sleepy Hollow Ski Center with the classical cross country races, and Dartmouth completed the first day with a narrow two-point lead over Vermont, 234-232. Senior Luke Brown was the top skier for the Big Green, placing second in the men's 10K, while freshman Katharine Ogden once again paced the women by claiming fourth in the 5K.

The alpine team was scheduled to make its carnival debut today with the giant slalom at Sugarloaf as part of the Colby Carnival that began last weekend, but high winds postponed the event until Sunday.

The race for second place in the men's 10K was fierce to the end as Brown and New Hampshire's Peter Holmes were neck-and-neck down the stretch, but nearly nine seconds behind the victor, Bill Harmeyer of Vermont. Brown was able to just nip Holmes at the tape by 0.18 seconds with his time of 24:27.53. Senior Callan DeLine cruised across the finish line all alone in fourth in 24:47.52, and junior Gavin McEwen rounded out the Big Green scorers in eighth with a time of 25:02.35. The trio combined for 121 points, besting the Catamounts in second with 107 with Middlebury third (100).

In the women's 5K, Odgen edged out junior teammate Lydia Blanchet for fourth by barely a full second with her time of 13:25.99 while Blanchet posted a time of 13:27.06. As with the men, the final contributor to the team score placed eighth as junior Emily Hyde held off two Vermont skiers in 13:54.19. The Catamounts took two of the three podium steps with Alayna Sonnesyn winning her second race of the season in as many events, besting Middlebury's Cate Brams (older sister of Big Green skier Leah Brams) by more than 10 seconds with a time of 13:05.20. Dartmouth finished second in the event with 113 points compared to 125 for Vermont, with Middlebury third again with 103.

The Nordic teams return to Sleepy Hollow on Sunday morning, starting with the men's 15K Free at 9:30 a.m. The women will begin their 10K Free at 11:30 a.m. Should the winds die down on Sunday at Sugarloaf, the giant slalom will be raced with the slalom to be rescheduled for Sunday, February 4 after the conclusion of the Vermont Carnival the day prior.