Both Alpine Teams Win Slalom on First Day of East Regional

Friday, February 25

Jackson, N.H.

Dartmouth College

UNH Day One

Sophomore Olivia Holm finished second in the slalom.

Photo by: flyingpointroad.com

Both Alpine Teams Win Slalom on First Day of East Regional

2/25/2022 6:04:00 PM | Skiing

Results

Big Green get strong performances on the slopes and another win for Molly Gellert on the trails

By: Rick Bender

JACKSON/FRANCONIA, N.H. — Both alpine teams for Dartmouth won the slalom on Friday at the East Regional hosted by the University of New Hampshire, lifting the Big Green into second place at the end of the first day of competition. Senior Molly Gellert was the star for the Nordic teams, winning the women's 15K free at Jackson XC as Dartmouth amassed 391 points, only seven points ahead of the host Wildcats with Vermont atop the standings with 476.

Due to the overly wintry conditions today, the decision was made to swap the races that were scheduled for Friday and Saturday, moving the slalom to today and the giant slalom to tomorrow. Same went for the cross country races with the longer distance freestyle races taking place today and the shorter classical races tomorrow.

The Big Green were in fine shape after the first run at Mittersill with senior Ellie Curtis — last week's EISA Women's Alpine Skier of the Week — sitting in second with sophomore Olivia Holm and fifth-year senior Hannah Utter among the top 10 as well. Although Curtis did not finish her second run, Holm boasted the second-best time on the second run down the mountain, leaping from eighth place into second in 1:41.46, 0.45 seconds behind Vermont Moa Clementson for the gold. Utter made a similar jump in the standings, going from 10th to fourth with a time of 1:42.26. Freshman Carly Elsinger snuck into the top 10 as well, claiming 10th in 1:43.60, giving the Green 118 points — eight ahead of Middlebury and 11 ahead of Vermont — to win the event.

The men's slalom standings were even closer. Freshman Oliver Morgan put together the best time on the first run, second only to Vermont's Joachim Lindstoel, while junior Hunter Brayton was ninth. Upon returning to the course, Morgan managed to keep his place on the podium, taking third place with a combined time of 1:30.66. But out of nowhere, sophomore Olof Hedelin outdid everyone by nearly a full second with his afternoon run and climbed from 25th place all the way to fourth, nearly passing Morgan at 1:30.74. Brayton fell just out of the top 10 into 11th with his time of 1:31.15, but the trio were able to provide 115 points to eke past host New Hampshire (111) and Vermont (108).

Gellert, who won the 15K free mass start last week at Middlebury, proved it was no fluke by besting the field in the same race today. While Vermont's Anna Bizyukova jumped out to a 12-second lead after the first 5K, Gellert was near the front of the trailing pack of 13 skiers that were separated by no more than five seconds. But Bizyukova struggled over the second 5K, allowing two skiers to pass her, including Gellert, though all three were only one second apart. Like last week, Gellert relied on her endurance to outlast the other leaders and won the race by six seconds with a time of 44:07.6.

Big Green freshman Tatum Witter crossed the tape in eighth place (44:35.1) while sophomore Mara McCollor claimed 11th (44:50.0) with a very consistent race. While Gellert won the gold, Vermont won the team title thanks to grabbing the other two podium steps, totaling 128 points. Dartmouth beat out Colby for second place, 113-104.

The men, unfortunately, were decimated by the flu with two skiers unable to start and only two skiers who completed the 20K free. Freshman Luke Allan crossed every checkpoint in eighth place, and that's where he finished with a time of 54:07.1. Junior Alex Nemeth, meanwhile, completed the four loops in 1:00:25.6 to finish 43rd. Vermont once again boasted two of the skiers on the podium, including the winner, Ben Ogden (brother of former Big Green All-American Katharine Ogden), who bested the field by 37 seconds in 51:23.6.

The final day of the carnival tomorrow will feature classical races — 5K for the women, 10K for the men — and the giant slalom on the slopes.