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| Travis Dawson of the University of Vermont, after winning the men's giant slalom at the Colby College Carnival at Sugarloaf Mountain on January 17, 2014 in Carabassett Valley, ME. (Dustin Satloff/EISA) |
Dustin Satloff
CARRABASSETT VALLEY, ME. - The
University of Vermont holds a 44-point alpine lead after the first day of the
2014 Colby College Carnival. This is no surprise. What is
a surprise, however, is that the 44-point lead is over Colby
College. UVM skiers Kate Ryley and Travis Dawson took first place in
their individual events, but Colby’s performance at their home carnival
overshadowed much of everything else.
Kate Ryley,
of UVM, took her second GS win of the season by posting the two fastest times
of the day, leading to a 3.64 second lead over runner-up, Abigail Fucigna. However, Ryley’s dominance of the field was
not supported by her teammates on the women’s side. Neither Kristina
Riis-Johannessen nor Elise Tefre finished their second runs,
although Vermont received points from freshmen Celine Rytz and Brittany
Lathrop, who finished 12th and 14th, respectively.
Travis
Dawson, who finished 3rd last week at the UVM Carnival, took the win at
Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine on Friday. Dawson and teammate Dom Garand
took first and third place, with Kevin Drury also scoring for Vermont in
sixth. Vermont’s men took the team victory, scoring 138 points and
besting second-place Dartmouth’s 92.
Colby
College stepped up their performance at their home Carnival at Sugarloaf, and
significantly so. During a day with very unusual weather and variable
snow conditions, Colby capitalized, and had three women finish in the top 10. Jeanne
Barthold’s top finish coming into today had been 21st place, at Colby’s
carnival in 2013. She crushed that record, taking 3rd place for the
Colby College women, who edged out UVM by 10 points for the women’s team
win.
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| Jeanne Barthold of Colby College skis in the first run of the Colby Carnival giant slalom at Sugarloaf Mountain on January 17, 2014 in Carabassett Valley, ME. (Dustin Satloff/EISA) |
“This is
our home hill. We’ve worked really hard this year and I’m so excited
with our team,” said Barthold. “It’s been a great day, and I am so
proud of our team. It’s a good start to our year.”
It
definitely is a good start; Colby’s women have been performing far above
expectations set for this season. Mardene Haskell finished 5th;
which was the first top 10 finish of her collegiate career. Senior
Brittney Ziebell also scored for Colby, finishing 9th.
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| Abby Fucigna of Dartmouth College skis in the first run of the Colby College Carnival giant slalom at Sugarloaf Mountain on January 17, 2014 in Carabassett Valley, ME. (Dustin Satloff/EISA) |
Dartmouth’s
Abby Fucigna, who placed third in the giant slalom at Colby’s carnival in 2013,
continued to perform well at Sugarloaf. “I like the hill,” Fucigna
said. “I like how it’s technical in the way it turns, but the
pitches are more moderate. You can really get a good
feeling.” Fucigna placed 2nd, and was Dartmouth’s top finisher. Dartmouth’s
other points scorers were Anne Strong, who placed 11th, and Sara Kikut, who
took 17th.
Dartmouth’s
top finisher for the men was Robert Overing, who took 8th place. The
Dartmouth men tied for second as a team with Middlebury, scoring 92 points;
both teams are 46 points behind the UVM men.
The race conditions, particularly those
during the second run, were anything but ideal. After contending
with a fog that continually rolled in and out during the first run, skiers had
to deal with a very rutty, icy course. Travis Dawson, who won the
men’s giant slalom said, “I don't think I’ve seen many races with the course
conditions the way they were. The conditions were tough, there were
holes, the snow was icy, we had fog, and we had darkness. It was a
crazy day and it was a tough day.” Women’s second place finisher,
Abby Fucigna commented, “the second run was the iciest, ripply, crazy
[course]. I’ve never had my skis move under my feet like the way
they did today. It was the epitome of a ski race.” These
difficult conditions led to several DNFs, as skiers had trouble navigating the
variable terrain. Fucigna continued, “I like when it gets a
little tough, and I know that some people don't, so I like to use that to my
advantage.”
