Strong Performance by Dartmouth Women Bests UVM at the Delayed Conclusion of UVM Carnival Alpine Events

Lizzie Kistler of Dartmouth College, skis during the second  run of the women's slalom at the University of Vermont Carnival at Burke Mountain on January 26, 2014 in East Burke, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

Dustin Satloff

EAST BURKE, VT. - Given the strength of Dartmouth’s team this year, it should not be that much of a surprise that the Dartmouth women could outscore the University of Vermont on occasion.  Sunday was that occasion at the University of Vermont Carnival, and Dartmouth’s women bested UVM, although it was not enough to pull the entire Dartmouth team ahead.  Another strong performance by UVM’s men helped secure the lead as the alpine events concluded at Burke Mountain in East Burke, VT. 

Teams raced for the third day in a row, as Sunday’s slalom represented the conclusion of the UVM Carnival that began in Stowe, VT on January 10, 2014, the second day of which had been postponed because of weather and poor course conditions.

Travis Dawson won for the fourth time this season, and teammate Dom Garand was once again the runner up.  Dawson and Garand have finished one-two three times this season, and Vermont controlled the top two spots for the fifth straight time.  Taylor Wunsch was UVM’s third scorer, finishing in fifth.  Wunsch posted the fastest time of the second run, which moved him from 24^th place into fifth.

Dominique Garand of the University of Vemont, skis during the second  run of the men's slalom at the University of Vermont Carnival at Burke Mountain on January 26, 2014 in East Burke, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

UVM’s women looked to have control of the top 5 again after the conclusion of the first run.  Kate Ryley, Elise Tefre, and Kristina Riis-Johannessen sat in second, third, and fourth behind Dartmouth’s Lizzie Kistler.  Elise Tefre had trouble on the second run and fell to 34^th.  Celine Rytz, who finished in 21^st, was UVM’s third point-scorer.

Lizzie Kistler finished the first run seven-tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Kate Ryley, and took a lead into the second run for the first time in her career.  After struggling last weekend at the Colby Carnival, Kistler appears to have bounced back, finishing in the top 10 three times, including Saturday’s second-place finish and Sunday’s victory.

“I took a week to focus on training and getting my consistency back,” Kistler said.  “Colby [Carnival] was pretty rough, but it’s nice to get some confidence back going into the rest of the season.”

Sara Kikut of Dartmouth College, skis during the second  run of the women's slalom at the University of Vermont Carnival at Burke Mountain on January 26, 2014 in East Burke, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

Kistler’s teammates Sara Kikut and  Maisie Ide also scored for Dartmouth, finishing sixth and ninth.  Dartmouth’s women edged out UVM in the women’s slalom, outscoring them 118 to 114.

Dartmouth’s men weren’t quite as strong, with Ben Morse as Dartmouth’s top scorer, finishing in sixth place.  Dylan brooks finished in 12^th, and Mathieu Bertrand finished in 14^th.  Robert Overing, who was Dartmouth’s largest point-scorer in each race coming into this weekend, did not finish for the third time this weekend.

Hig Roberts was on the podium for the third time of the weekend, after taking third place once again.  It is Roberts’ third straight third-place performance.  Middlebury’s men, who finished second to UVM, had three top 10 finishers. Liam Mulhern finished in seventh and Colin Hayes also scored, taking tenth position.

Randa Teschner of the University of New Hampshire, skis during the second  run of the women's slalom at the University of Vermont Carnival at Burke Mountain on January 26, 2014 in East Burke, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

Randa Teschner of UNH finished in fourth place for the second straight day.  Teammate Katie Farrow also finished in the top 10, finishing in seventh.  Morgan Klein concluded UNH’s scoring, taking 14^th place.

Williams’ Shannon Campbell finished in eighth; her second straight top 10 finish.  Mardi Haskell of Colby took her first career slalom top 5 finish, and had her second straight top 10 finish.  On the men’s side, St. Lawrence's Graham Scott took his second straight top 10 finish, finishing in fourth place.

Whether it is merely cracks in the UVM armor that the Dartmouth women were able to exploit on Sunday, or whether they are a legitimate challenge to UVM’s dominance remains to be seen.  If Dartmouth is for real, however they will have show it strongly in the next three carnivals.  But if they have indeed found cracks in UVM’s armor, the cracks surely don’t seem very deep.  Only three carnivals remain including the Middlebury Carnival/EISA Championships/NCAA East Regional on February 21.  The next scheduled alpine event is the Dartmouth Carnival to be held February 7-8, 2014.