Peterson Shines in Colby GS; Blanchet 2nd at St. Michael's

Sunday, January 21

Huntington, Vt.

All Day

Dartmouth College

St. Michael's (Nordic Day 2)

Peterson Shines in Colby GS; Blanchet 2nd at St. Michael's

1/21/2018 5:28:00 PM | Skiing

By: Dartmouth

HUNTINGTON, Vt./CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — The Dartmouth alpine team finally was able to begin its season on Sunday at the Colby Carnival with the giant slalom, which was postponed yesterday due to high winds at Sugarloaf. The Big Green won both the men's and women's GS with senior Foreste Peterson claiming individual honors for the latter. Meanwhile, the Nordic teams concluded their races at the St. Michael's Carnival with the freestyle today with junior Lydia Blanchet leading the way with her second-place showing in the women's 10K.

The high winds that postponed the GS yesterday died down enough to allow the races to take place this morning, though many skiers found the conditions difficult as just over one-third of the 134 competitors for the men and women did not make it through two runs. On the first run, Peterson found herself with the second-fastest time in 1:01.02 with sophomore teammate Stephanie Currie not far behind in fifth in 1:02.98.

In the afternoon, Peterson bested the field with her 1:02.33 to win the race by nearly a full second ahead of Middlebury's Caroline Barlett with a combined time of 2:03.35. Currie maintained her spot in fifth with a total time of 2:06.95, while junior Alexa Dlouhy completed the Big Green scorers in 16th at 2:08.73. The trio registered 114 points, which Middlebury matched to share the team title in the event, while Vermont placed third with 107.

The men launched at 10:30 a.m. and immediately formed a strong group with four skiers in the top 10 on the first run. Sophomore Tanguy Nef shredded the slopes in 59.89 to sit third with seniors Thomas Woolson (1:00.33, fourth) and Brian McLaughlin (1:00.36, fifth) right behind. And sophomore David Domonoske put together a solid run in 1:01.35, which put him in ninth with one run remaining.

Nef continued to race well as the temperatures warmed with the second-best time in the afternoon, jumping up one place into second in 2:00.11 for his fourth career podium in the GS. McLaughlin improved his time to swap spots with Woolson, claiming fourth in 2:00.66, just 0.15 seconds behind St Michael's Guillaume Grand for a spot on the podium. Woolson, meanwhile, took fifth in 2:01.51 and Domoske seventh in 2:02.30 as Dartmouth edged out Vermont in points, 127-122, pushing past the Catamounts in the team totals, 727-719, with the slalom still to come on Feb. 4.

Over at Sleepy Hollow, the men began the cross country races with a 15K individual start at 9:30 this morning. Dartmouth's top finisher was junior Gavin McEwen in 11th with a time of 39:21.8, missing out on a spot in the top 10 by a mere second. Senior Luke Brown, who stepped on the podium yesterday in the 10K Classic, could not duplicate that performance today, placing 16th in 39:55.6, while freshman Adam Glueck provided the final Big Green points in the event by claiming 25th in 40:36.1. The trio totaled 76 points, leaving Dartmouth in sixth for the race, in which Middlebury edged out Vermont, 123-120, thought Colby's Zane Fields won the individual title by nearly 35 seconds in 37:56.8.

The women's race went much better for the Big Green with Blanchet pacing a strong performance. Dartmouth and Vermont hoarded the first six places in the race with Catamount Alayna Sonnesyn winning her third race in as many events this season with a time of 28:39.8. Blanchet was nine seconds off the pace in second, and Vermont's Sutro Lina took the last podium step three seconds later. But juniors Taryn Hunt-Smith (29:08.0) and Emily Hyde (29:32.3) were the next two to skate across the finish line to give the Green 127 points in all. Vermont, however, edged out Dartmouth with Margie Freed claiming sixth, giving the Catamounts 131 points for the team crown.

The alpine events for St. Michael's will take place next Friday and Saturday at Smuggler's Notch with Vermont holding a 46-point lead over the Big Green, 483-437, and Middlebury in third with 407. No other team is within 100 points of the Panthers.