EISA action continued
Saturday morning in Lake Placid, NY with individual start distance skate races.
The challenging 5-kilometer course used for both the women’s 5k and the men’s
10k race featured a series of grueling climbs out of the stadium to the course’s
high point located just after the 3-kilometer mark and was followed by a series
of sweeping descents back to the finish.
Warm temperatures, a
light mist, and a firm base greeted the start of the women’s race. As the
morning progressed, conditions softened creating arduous climbs and challenging
corners by the time the men’s race was underway.
In both races, it
Dartmouth College that reigned supreme as both Lydia Blanchet and Cal Deline
from the big green took victories. The success continued behind them as Dartmouth
achieved five out of six EISA podium spots for the day.
In the women’s race,
Blanchet skied to a narrow victory, covering the course in 14:43.7, three
seconds faster than runner-up Alayna Sonnesyn of the University of Vermont. She
was followed by Lauren Jortberg (DAR). For the team result, Dartmouth won the
day with 135 points to runner-up UVM’s 99 points. UNH was third with 89 points.
“I love 5k skates,”
Blanchet said after the race, “I was very excited going into it.” Given the
extended climb, Blanchet explained, her plan was simple. “My strategy was to
just take it out as fast as I could and ski hard. My legs felt great so I
climbed as fast as I could.” Going in to the race hoping for victory, Blanchet
was excited with her result explaining that after an injury this fall she was
unsure what sort of fitness she would come into the season with.
Sonnesyn too was happy
with her perfomance. “I’m very tired from racing all four rounds yesterday so I
think where I ended up is a really good day for me,” she said. In contrast to
Blanchet, Sonnesyn felt that her focus on transition areas carried her to
success. “The uphills were hard but I felt like I made up a lot of time on the
rolling sections on the top part of the course,” she said. “Coming into the
stadium, I felt that I had skied the downhills really well and I expected a
good result.”
In the men’s race,
Cal Deline established himself as an early frontrunner for distance races this
season as he skied to a commanding victory in 26:59.6, seventeen seconds ahead
of second place teammate Fabian Stocek (DAR). Luke Brown’s third place finish
capped of Dartmouth’s podium sweep. Brown was 37 seconds back of Deline. In the
team competition, Dartmouth proved victorious with 141 points. Second place
went to UVM with 100 points and third to Colby College with 99 points.
“I wanted to really
push the first lap then just try to hang on,” Deline explained of his pre-race
strategy. He did just that as he posted the fastest time to the top of the
first lap’s climb by nearly 30 seconds. Deline, who also recently qualified for
the U23 World Championships, explained that his recent results leave him
feeling positive for races ahead. “I’m hoping to have some fun at U23s then
move on to NCAAs and place high there,” he stated of his goals for the season.
After narrowly
missing the men’s final yesterday, Brown was pleased to be a part of Dartmouth’s
dominance today. “I was a little slow out of the gate but I knew I would speed
up,” he explained. Brown was excited not simply for his personal result but
also for what this weekend’s races suggest for his team’s season long
prospects. “I think we have a good shot at doing well this carnival season. We defiantly
want to stack the EISA points list and get some good results at NCAAs.”
Another school
posting top results in the men’s race was Colby College with two skiers, Zane
Fields and Silas Eastman, who achieved 5th and 7th respectively.
“We killed it today,” Fields said after the race. Head coach Tracey Cote
explained that working into the race was critical to her team’s success. “The
game plan was to go out relaxed and then to pick it up and have the second lap
be better than the first.” Cote and Fields both agreed that they hope this
early success bodes well for qualifying multiple skiers from Colby for the NCAA
Championships in March.
In the overall team
competition, Dartmouth prevailed with a combined score of 961 points. The
University of Vermont was second with 830 points and the University of New
Hampshire was third with 647 points.
EISA skiers will next
compete January 27th and 28th in Jackson, New Hampshire
at the UNH Carnival. Friday’s individual start races feature a women’s 5
kilometer and a men’s 10 kilometer. Saturday’s mass start races will be 15
kilometers for women and 20 kilometers for men.