Middlebury Carnival - Day 2 Nordic Video Recap

Videos Created By - Blazing Pines Productions - India Harvey

Middlebury Carnival - Day 1 Nordic Video Recap

Videos Created By - Blazing Pines Productions - India Harvey

EISA Nordic Skiers of the Week - Middlebury Carnival

Braden Becker - Williams - 2nd in Skate, 19th in Classic

Taryn Hunt-Smith - Dartmouth - 6th in Classic, 7th in Skate 

NCAA Championships Nordic Teams Named

After six weeks of racing, 13 women and 13 men be named to represent the East at the NCAA Championships in Steamboat Springs, CO. Races will take place March 7-10. Congratulations to all the qualifiers!

NCAA East Region Qualifiers - MEN: 
1. Zane Fields (CBC)
2. Luke Brown (DAR)
3. Peter Holmes (UNH)
4. Callan DeLine (DAR)
5. Peter Wolter (MID)
6. Sam Wood (MID)
7. Adam Luban (MID)
8. Finn O' Connell (UVM)
9. Cully Brown (UVM)
10. Juri Miosga (UVM)
11. Elliot Ketchel (BOW)
12. Gavin McEwan (DAR)
13. Braden Becker (WIL)

NCAA East Region Qualifiers - WOMEN: 
1. Alayna Sonnesyn (UVM)
2. Katharine Ogden (DAR)
3. Lauren Jortberg (DAR)
4. Lydia Blanchet (DAR)
5. Cate Brams (MID)
6. Lina Sutro (UVM)
7. Katie Feldman (MID)
8. Margie Freed (UVM)
9. Kaelyn Woods (BAT)
10. Nina Armstrong (HAR)
11. Renae Anderson (BOW)
12. Alexandra Lawson (MID)
13. Gabrielle Vandendries (BOW)

Stay Tuned this coming week for a 3 part Video Series called 'Road to Steamboat,' recapping the 2018 EISA seasons of some of the qualifying athletes and their thoughts going into NCAA's.

NCAA Championships Alpine Teams Named

Following the conclusion of the regular season last weekend, EISA teams have determined their participants in this year's NCAA Championships. The NCAA races will be held in Steamboat Springs, CO, during March 7-10. 

The GS races are scheduled for March 7, and the SL races will be held under the lights on Friday, March 9. 

Congratulations to all the qualifiers!

NCAA East Region Female Qualifiers:

1. Paula Moltzan (UVM)
2. Foreste Peterson (DAR)
3. Alexa Dlouhy (DAR)
4. Caroline Bartlett (MID)
5. Francesca English (UVM)
6. Josefine Selvaag (UVM)
7. Stephanie Currie (DAR)
8. Genevieve Frigon (UNH)
9. Rosie Hust (CBC)
10. Lisa Wedsjoe (UNH)
11. Lexi Calcagni (MID)
12. Lucia Bailey (MID)
13. Sohvi Virkkula (UNH)
14. Anna Willassen (SMC)
15. Griffin Mueller (BAT)
16. Freydis Einarsdottir (PSU)

NCAA East Region Male Qualifiers:

1. Tanguy Nef (DAR)
2. Brian McLaughlin (DAR)
3. Max Roeisland (UVM)
4. Sandy Vietze (UVM)
5. Erik Arvidsson (MID)
6. Thomas Woolson (DAR)
7. Patrick Kenney (UNH)
8. Guillaume Grand (SMC)  
9. Karl Kuus (PSU)
10. Riley Plant (MID)
11. Patrick McConville (UVM)
12. Carter Robertson (BC)
13. Marc Talbott (WIL)
14. Carter Armstrong (SLU)
15. Danny Duffy (SMC)
16. Cooper Yates (PSU)

2018 EISA AWARDS - Nordic

ALL-EAST FIRST TEAM, WOMEN 

(From Left to Right) - Cate Brams (MID) - Alayna Sonnesyn (UVM) - Lydia Blanchet (DAR) - Katharine Ogden (DAR) - Lauren Jortberg (DAR)

ALL-EAST SECOND TEAM, WOMEN 

(From Left to Right) - Katie Feldman (MID) - Emily Hyde (DAR) - Taryn Hunt-Smith (DAR) - Lina Sutro (UVM)

ALL-EAST FIRST TEAM, MEN 

(From Left to Right) - Zane Fields (CBC) - Luke Brown (DAR) - Peter Holmes (UNH) - Callan DeLine (DAR) - Bill Harmeyer (UVM)

ALL-EAST SECOND TEAM, MEN 

(From Left to Right) - Adam Luban (MID) - Cully Brown (UVM), Sam Wood (MID), Finn O' Connell (MID), Peter Wolter (MID) 

ROOKIES OF THE YEAR

Katharine Ogden (Dartmouth) and Peter Wolter (Middlebury)

CLASSIC LEADERS

Peter Holmes (UNH) and Katharine Ogden (Dartmouth)

SKATE LEADERS

Alayna Sonnesyn (UVM) and Zane Fields (Colby)

COACH OF THE YEAR

Andrew Johnson (Middlebury)

Click here for more award photos!

Fields and Ogden Continue their Domination on Day 2 of the Middlebury Carnival

And just like that, the 2018 EISA Season has come to a close. The second day of the Middlebury Carnival/Regional Championship featured mass start, 15KM/20KM, skate races. Both competitions used the same 5KM loop from Friday’s races, which required women to complete three laps and men four laps. The only course change was that for their first lap, the second section featuring the A-Climb and Sugarhouse Downhill was eliminated. For the remaining loops, racers completed the full course including this climb. 

Despite Rikert’s tireless grooming efforts, forty degree temperatures gave way to fairly mushy, wet skiing conditions. Although this made races more challenging for competitors, the smiles and emotion rendered in the finishing chute showed that perhaps this made the ending even sweeter, because racers really had to work for it. 

The men’s 20KM race shot off at 10:00AM, with sixty of the East’s strongest competitors gathered at the start. Once the race began, the best men immediately organized themselves in strategized positions with Zane Fields (CBC) leading the top section, which was a mix of UVM, Dartmouth, and Middlebury. It wasn’t until around the third lap that Field’s made his move and started widening the gap between him and the pack. Treading on his heels was a group made up of Callan DeLine (DAR), Henry Harmeyer (UVM), Gavin McEwan (DAR), and Cully Brown (UVM) which was led by Williams’ Braden Becker. At this point, although Field’s gap made it appear that no one would catch him, Becker gave him a run for his money. On the last climb of the fourth lap, Becker had significantly caught up to Fields and broken away from the pack. Despite this hard effort, the first man to ascend that final hill onto the finishing stretch was Zane Fields, capturing the win in 46:06. Braden Becker was second, finishing in 46:17, and Cully Brown (UVM) grabbed third finishing in 46:31. 

This win means Fields achieved his insane goal of winning every skate race in the 2018 EISA season (excluding the skate prologue race which didn’t count for NCAA points). When asked about his “perfect” season in the EISA circuit Fields commented, “I’m just ecstatic, this year’s been unbelievable, and I just want to thank everyone whose help me get to this place.” Although he took the win with a clear gap, Fields shared that it was no easy feat: “I wanted to lead and I wanted to extend that lead if I could. I was trying to test-out going hard from the start and trying to gap. I don’t think I’d do it again, it was really hard, but I’m glad it worked out for today.” For Fields, the other challenge he mentioned was the “thick, deep, slushy” conditions which contributed to his summation of the race that “it was just a big slog out there.” In Fields' case, he didn’t just endure the slog, he completely destroyed and conquered it. 

Runner-Up Braden Becker (WIL) had his best performance of the season, which he was very happy about. Becker commented that it was good to end the season on a “good note” after suffering from injury earlier in the year. Going in Becker was unsure how he would perform after soreness from Friday’s racing: “I just tried to ski in the pack and stay conservative, and I guess I just had an extra gear.” That extra gear was definitely needed when navigating the hardest part of the course, which Becker said was the A-Climb on the second loop. “It was pretty tough and I got pretty bogged down.” What contributed to this difficulty was the sloppy, slow conditions which Becker still considered to be “a miracle" pulled off my Rikert due to the high temperatures they’ve endured. “The conditions were still amazing considering the weather we’ve been having.” This race put Becker in a qualifying spot for NCAA’s. 

The third-place finisher of the men’s race was UVM senior Cully Brown, who was ecstatic about his result, it being a “nostalgic and emotional” experience since it was his last collegiate race. Brown said the hardest part for him was more mental. “About 10K in you look back and you have every colored suit behind you, and everybody is looking for those top spots…it’s aggressive but exciting.” To battle the wet conditions, Brown shared that he was just focusing on “staying as relaxed as possible and only working as hard as [he] needed to.” Brown is also in a qualifying spot for NCAA’s but it hasn’t been confirmed if he will be one of UVM’s representatives (being that they had more than three qualifiers). This final podium finish certainly shows what Brown is capable of. In the men’s team score, Henry Harmeyer (4th) and Juri Miosga (10th) helped Brown grab first for UVM with 115 points, ahead of Dartmouth with 103 points, and Middlebury in third with 101 points. 

MEN'S 20K PODIUM - BROWN, FIELDS, BECKER

The women’s 15KM race which kicked off at 12:00PM ended up having the top three positions from Friday’s race stay exactly the same. Going in, it was no surprise that the main battle was going to be between Dartmouth’s All-Star Rookie, Katharine Ogden and UVM’s veteran powerhouse Alayna Sonnesyn. By the second lap, the two women broke off together with Dartmouth Skier’s Lydia Blanchet and Lauren Jortberg in the next pack. By the end of the second lap leading into the third lap, Ogden made her move and started to create a gap between her and Sonnesyn, that was significant enough to separate them but still opened up the chance of a last minute switch up, keeping fans on their toes. In the end, Ogden maintained her lead coming in at 38:19, with Sonnesyn coming in second in 38:54, and Lydia Blanchet coming in third in 39:16. 

Ogden comes in for her second win of the weekend

Ogden who felt very positive about her result said that she went in “with not too much of a plan, was just trying to go with the flow and see how it ended up.” Other than staying relaxed Ogden found the hardest part of the course to be the conditions. She laughed when commenting how “the hardest part of the course was the whole thing! It was so slushy and slow out there which was definitely hard skiing, but it was super fun.” When asked about her thoughts of the season coming to a close, Ogden found the experience to be bittersweet being that “it's nice to be winding down after a long season” yet she will miss racing against all of her fellow competitors in the EISA circuit. 

Runner-Up Alayna Sonnesyn, found the race to be extremely emotional, being that just like Brown, it was her last EISA carnival ever. Sonnesyn commented that the tough climbing on course made you really have to dig deep but having her teammates present to cheer her on meant the world to her. “They reminded me that this was my last, last carnival and got me through it.” Conditions wise Sonnesyn found them to be “a little sloppy” but she felt that since “everybody had to deal with it so it was a fight to the finish and such a grind.” In response to how she feels about her college ski career being over, Sonnesyn was incredibly gracious and thankful: “I’m sad that my season is coming to a close. It’s been an incredible journey the last couple of years and I’m so thankful for everyone who has been a part of it. All the teammates I’ve had, all the coaches I’ve had, it’s been so amazing and I couldn’t have asked for more.” 

Sonnesyn and Ogden Post-Race

Rounding out the podium was Dartmouth’s Lydia Blanchet who found the fact that the season is over crazy because it’s gone so fast: “The season just flew by!” When discussing her race she felt that the tough course conditions, which she described as “slow and slushy” made for some brutal racing. “The finishing chute felt like one of those dreams where you're like running through jello and never getting anywhere.” Nevertheless, Blanchet was happy with how she had pushed herself and stayed mentally strong throughout the race. In the women’s team competition, Lauren Jortberg (4th) helped her Dartmouth teammates grab first with 135 points, ahead of UVM in second with 113 points, and Middlebury in third with 103 points. 

WOMEN'S 15KM PODIUM - BLANCHET, OGDEN, SONNESYN

This season has been filled with some exciting and outstanding performances making the 2018 EISA Season be one to be remembered. Winning Streaks began and ended, freshman newcomers came to the scene and tore it up, A male competitor went completely undefeated in one discipline, I would say overall it was pretty darn exciting. Although the season is done for most, there are two more races on the horizon for a select number of skiers. After team selections are made, 26 athletes, 13 men and 13 women from the East coast will be traveling to Steamboat Springs, CO to compete in the NCAA Championships from March 7th-10th. Live Streaming will be available so check it out and support this year's EISA qualifiers. Stay Tuned throughout the week for the for pictures and video recaps from this weekend!

Click here for photos from Day 2!

Dartmouth wins NCAA East Regional Championship; Bartlett (MID) and McLaughlin (DAR) top GS podiums

Well, the Carnival season is over. But don’t worry: it’ll start up again in 46 weeks.

Dartmouth College claimed the NCAA East Regional title with 979 points at the Middlebury Carnival this weekend. The University of Vermont was second with 841, and Middlebury College was a close third with 816 points. 

Dartmouth College: EISA East Regional Champions

The Midd Carnival is a favorite of many on the circuit. Every weekend this season has featured high-end racing, but no Carnival has an atmosphere like Middlebury’s. Students lined up 10-deep behind the B-net today, their roars audible near the top of the trail as each skier passed by. Alums and parents came to watch. I even saw parents of alums (they didn’t even have kids racing today!) watching the races. These races are historic, and they draws fans — and they maintain much of the character I hear in descriptions of the good ol’ days of Carnival racing. 

A lot of what makes the Middlebury Carnival distinct is everything happening around the races. And though much of it is a continuation of decades of tradition, this Carnival has evolved and added something greater. After the races, the EISA field joins together to ski a run in honor of Murphy Roberts, a Middlebury skier who died tragically two years ago at the age of 22. All of the athletes ride the lift together and then descend in a free-spirited romp towards the crowds below. I think it says all we need to know about EISA: the last act these skiers take each season isn’t tucking past the last gate and across the finish to stop the clock —  it’s joining together as a group to celebrate one of their own.  

* * *

We saw a fresh face atop the podium today: Caroline Bartlett ended her season-long drought and dominated the women’s field on her home hill with a combined time of 2:06.71. She won by a full two seconds. Dartmouth College’s Stephanie Currie and Foreste Peterson were second and third in 2:08.72 and 2:08.74, respectively. 

It’s difficult to imagine a better finish to the regular season for Bartlett. Last year, she won three GS races during the regular season, and this year — until today — the best she had managed was a second-place finish at the Colby Carnival. Middlebury Head Coach Stever Bartlett recognized the significance of today's result.

“Winning on your home hill is the best,” Coach Bartlett said. “Given some of her struggles this year — she’s been skiing well, just had mistakes, little bobbles here and there that just didn’t allow her to be where she wanted to. To win here on the home hill is awesome for her. Good momentum leading into NCAAs.”

Caroline Bartlett (MID)

Bartlett’s victory today led a strong run by the Panthers’ women’s squad. They finished second as a team in the GS behind Dartmouth, 130—120. Middlebury’s Lexi Calcagni (2:08.98) finished fourth, and Lucia Bailey came through in 12th in a time of 2:11.34. 

Saint Michael’s College finished in third place with a score of 102, and UVM had a rare off-day: only one athlete, Mille Graesdal (9th; 2:10.53), completed the women’s race. UVM’s top performer this season, Paula Moltzan, was in second place after the first run, but she took a hard fall in one of the dicier, more rutted sections of the course. 

In the men’s race, Brian McLaughlin finished out his collegiate Carnival career with another win (last weekend he won both races at the Williams Carnival). His combined time of 2:03.05 bested UVM’s Max Roeisland (2:04.20), who took second. Middlebury’s Erik Arviddson was third once again (he finished third in the SL yesterday) in 2:04.45. 

McLaughlin led Dartmouth to victory in the men’s GS. As a team, they tallied 128 points, just ahead of UVM (115 points). The Middlebury men followed up their women’s team’s strong performance with a third-place finish (108 points).

* * *

After the races, All-East awards were announced: First Team and Second Team. Designations were determined based on an athlete’s top-two finishes this season:

All-East Award Winners (L-R): Step Currie (DAR), Caroline Bartlett (MID), Paula Moltzan (UVM), Foreste Peterson (DAR), Francesca English (UVM), Alexa Dlouhy (DAR), Claire Thomas (DAR), Josephine Selvaag (UVM), Lisa Wedsjoe (UNH), Kelly Moore (DAR)

ALL-EAST FIRST TEAM, WOMEN

Paula Moltzan (UVM)

Foreste Peterson (DAR)

Caroline Bartlett (MID)

Francesca English (UVM)

Alexa Dlouhy (DAR)

ALL-EAST SECOND TEAM, WOMEN 

Stephanie Currie (DAR)

Claire Thomas (DAR)

Josephine Selvaag (UVM)

Lisa Wedsjoe (UNH)

Kelly Moore (DAR)

All-East Award Winners (L-R): Tanguy Nef (DAR), Max Roeisland (UVM), Sandy Vietze (UVM), Brian McLaughlin (DAR), Thomas Woolson (DAR), Erik Arvidsson (MID), Guillame Grand (SMC), Kalle Wagner (DAR), David Domonoske (DAR), David Frisk (UVM)

ALL-EAST FIRST TEAM, MEN

Tanguy Nef (DAR)

Max Roeisland (UVM)

Sandy Vietze (UVM)

Brian McLaughlin (DAR)

Thomas Woolson (DAR)

ALL-EAST SECOND TEAM, MEN

Erik Arvidsson (MID)

Guillaume Grand (SMC)

Kalle Wagner (DAR)

David Domonoske (DAR)

David Frisk (UVM)

* * *

On Monday, we’ll announce the NCAA Championships qualifiers — and not long after that, you’ll hear about the Championships races themselves!

Dartmouth leads EISA Regionals after Day 1; UVM's Moltzan makes it 6-for-6 in SL

UVM's Paula Moltzan is undefeated in EISA slalom races this season.

The EISA Regional Championships at the Middlebury Carnival. Can it really be the end of the regular season?

Yes.

Six weeks later, and we find ourselves tucked in the Green Mountains just a few miles east of Middlebury, Vermont. The Middlebury Snow Bowl is one of the historic collegiate ski racing venues: other schools may have begun hosting Carnivals earlier than Middlebury, but Midd has hosted races at The Bowl since 1934. Even Dartmouth can’t touch that. (Their Skiway was developed 20 years later). This is a fitting site for the Eastern Regional championship races, and after the first day, they’re not disappointing.

Dartmouth and UVM are in a dead heat for the EISA Regional Championship title. Across all disciplines (alpine and Nordic), Dartmouth leads 483—467 over UVM after Day 1. In alpine events, Dartmouth is ahead by just two points, 250—248.

The races are going much smoother than they might have. After getting hammered by the warm temps this week (Although really, who’s complaining about skiing in a tank top? I would never.), Middlebury’s main ski lift broke. 

“On Wednesday morning, the lift kind of blew up,” Middlebury Head Coach Stever Bartlett said. “It started billowing smoke, and [the mechanics] tore it apart. Fortunately, the engine didn’t blow. It was just bearings. But the lift was down Wednesday morning until yesterday [Thursday] at 3:00 p.m.”

Middlebury has another chairlift that accesses the Ross trail, but it became inaccessible after the week’s snowmelt. Staff at the Bowl considered pulling racers partway to the race start behind a snow cat and having them hike the last stretch to the start, but at the last minute the mechanics came through.

“They worked almost 24 hours straight on that thing, and they just tore the whole engine apart and put new bearings in,” Bartlett said. “We got really lucky.”

Despite the abnormally warm temperatures this week, the slalom (SL) hill today was in excellent shape. It was pretty much just ice, which ski racers love even though the rest of us find it terrifying. 

The surface held up so well that after Dartmouth College’s Tanguy Nef won the men’s race, another competitor was overheard saying, “Nef could’ve won today even if he started 50th.”

Nef won in a combined time of 1:33.59, nearly three-quarters of a second ahead of UVM’s Sandy Vietze (1:34.29). Middlebury’s Erik Arviddson made it to the podium in the first home carnival of his career, crossing with a time of 1:34.63 to finish third. 

The Dartmouth men’s team beat out UVM 128—112, with Brian McLaughlin (4th, 1:34.64) and Thomas Woolson (6th, 1:35.55) rounding out the Big Green’s scoring.

Dartmouth Men’s Head Coach Peter Dodge was pleased with Nef's win, but noted that his team’s focus is on the overall EISA title as well as the upcoming NCAA Championships.

“We’re really thinking ahead to NCAAs and trying to get in the right mindset,” Dodge said. “But we’re in a really tight battle with UVM for the eastern championship,” Dodge said. “We gotta do some work. We can’t just ski.”

One individual putting in some work is UVM’s Paula Moltzan. With her win today in the women's slalom race, she’s a perfect 6-for-6 in EISA SL races this year. I polled two of the longest-serving EISA coaches, Dartmouth’s Dodge and UVM’s Bill Reichelt, and neither could recall another skier in recent memory who was as consistently dominant as Moltzan has been this year. 

“I mean, winning six-for-six in slalom is awesome,” Dodge said. “And she’s been winning by a lot. She’s been skiing really well. Untouchable.”

UVM Assistant Coach Tim Kelley noted that part of what makes Moltzan’s achievement noteworthy is the unpredictability of slalom as a discipline. 

“It’s tough…Anything can happen. It’s just a tough one. Probably the most inconsistent sport of all, so I think [her accomplishment] is really super impressive to do in slalom where everything happens so quick.”

Moltzan’s victory today was decisive. She won by well over a second. There was plenty of daylight between her time of 1:35.89 and that of her teammate and second-place finisher Francesca English (1:37.12). Dartmouth’s Alexa Dlouhy crossed in third with 1:38.21. UVM’s third scorer was Maddie Irwin (1:38.58), who placed fifth. The Catamount women beat Dartmouth 136—122.

Tomorrow is a big day. The EISA Regional Championship is on the line. First- and Second-Team All-East awards are decided, AND it's the last day to try and secure a spot for the NCAA Championships. Whew.

Good luck.

Fields and Ogden take the final classic wins of the 2018 season on Day 1 of the Middlebury Carnival

The EISA Regional Championship and final carnival of the 2018 season took off today at the Rikert Nordic Center in Middlebury, VT. The first day kicked off with individual start, 5KM/10KM classic races on a 5KM loop, prompting men to complete the course twice and women only once. Demographically the course features two different loops that include some challenging gradual climbs and a couple long technical downhills that were tough to navigate. 

Weather-wise, although temperatures settled in the mid-thirties, gusts of wind made it significantly colder throughout the day. Conditions were rather icy and fast, but in good enough shape that Rikert deserved praise given the fact that the temperatures in Vermont hit almost 70 last week. The Men’s 10KM race went off first with the beginning competitors going off at 10:00AM. Colby’s Zane Fields came out on top, coming in at 24:19, ahead of UNH’s Peter Holmes who finished in 24:26, and Elliot Ketchel (BOW) had a breakout performance grabbing third, finishing the course in 24:34.

Fields was happy to end the 2018 EISA Season in the classic discipline on a good note, considering the fact that he considers himself more of a skate skier: “Classic has definitely gone better for me this year, but I’m ultimately looking forward to the skate race at NCAA’s.” Other than focusing on staying relaxed, Fields commented that the hardest part of the course was the second lip on the second hill: “We had Andrew out there screaming splits in my ear but I just felt like a puddle.” Nevertheless, Fields found something within himself to ski to a blazing finish and grab that last classic win as the season comes to a close. When looking forward Fields shared that he’s “super excited” about NCAA’s: “I’m a little nervous about altitude and how fast those guys are out there but I’m feeling strong so I’m hoping to do my best.”

Fields with Head Coach Tracey Cote after race 

Runner-Up Peter Holmes has also been a strong force in the classic discipline this season, being on the podium 4 out of the 5 classic races. Holmes was content with his race commenting how the conditions were significantly better than the previous day: “Rikert did a really good job with grooming, I thought it was going to be like a skating rink after warming up yesterday but it was really good out there.” When asked about the hardest part of the course Holmes shared, “That middle hill the second time was pretty tough, it was pretty chewed up and it was tough to get a good grip.” To combat these challenges Holmes commented that his strategy was just to “go for it from the get-go, and stay smooth throughout the first lap and really try to pick it up the second lap.” As a whole, Holmes said that he was feeling pretty good about how the classic season ended, “I’m really happy the way I skied the classic races all season, so I’m super stoked about that.” 

The Breakout of the day was well earned by Bowdoin’s Elliot Ketchel, who came in third and notched his first EISA podium. Ketchel, who was very happy with the outcome of his race shared that is strategy was all about pacing, “I wanted to take it easy and try to pace it really well and take the second lap a lot faster.” Armed with this strategy, Ketchel still faced a difficult course out there, with the hardest part for him being near top of the A-Climb: “there’s this little section, that for the last couple years hasn’t been in the course, because they haven’t had enough snow, and you kind of forget about it, but its right there, where you kind of feel like you want to die.” Overall this performance will add to Ketchel’s currently strong NCAA points, making his qualifying spot even more stable. In the men’s team results UVM took the win with Bill Harmeyer, Juri Miosga, and Karl Schulz going 6, 7, 8, allowing them to earn 105 points. Middlebury came in second with 100 points and Dartmouth in third with 98 points. 

MEN'S 10K Podium - Elliot Ketchel, Zane Fields, Peter Holmes

In the women’s race that kicked off at noon, the regulars took over the podium with Katharine Ogden sweeping the results and finishing in a time of 13:12, ahead of UVM’s Alayna Sonnesyn coming in second with a time of 13:26, and Lydia Blanchet (DAR) in third in a time of 13:31. 

Ogden was very happy with her race being that “it was a good course and it favored some pretty high tempo skiing which was right up [her] alley.” When asked about the most challenging part of the course Ogden shared that it was definitely the downhills. “I went in pretty nervous about the icy downhills - I ran into a couple of the boys from my team who crashed out and it made me a little worried. But I ended up skiing them pretty conservatively so I wouldn’t necessarily say that was the hardest part, but it was definitely the most intimidating.” Ogden commented that she knew the course today was going to be “fast and furious” so she just wanted to go as hard as she could.

Runner-Up Alayna Sonnesyn (UVM) was happy with her race as well but found it to be a bittersweet experience being that she is a senior and this was her last classic race ever in the EISA circuit. Sonnesyn applauded Rikert for what they provided on course, knowing first hand that Vermont has been hit with a “meltdown,” due to the high temps. Sonnesyn felt that the hardest part was nearing the top of the course: “On the last finger is this gradual uphill and you do a U-turn and it just keeps climbing. I was definitely feeling pretty tired at that point but I had some of my teammates out there cheering me on and they definitely pushed me through it.” When looking at all of her classic results, Sonnesyn was content. “I’m really bummed that it’s over. I was hoping to get that classic Bibb but didn’t quite get that goal, but still really happy with my classic results and really happy with my senior season.” 

Sonnesyn Finishing her final EISA Classic Race 

Dartmouth’s Lydia Blanchet pulled out another podium performance this week coming in third which she was excited about: “It went by super quick out there and it was kind of over as soon as it started.” Blanchet agreed with Sonnesyn that the hardest part of the course was the last finger. “You had to dig really deep because there’s some really consistent climbing there. You are really trying to stay focused and go hard for that whole uphill.” Despite this challenge, Blanchet explained how the course was pretty easy when conceptualizing it in your head; “It had three big climbs and three big downhills, so knowing this I was just trying to push as hard as I could over pretty much…everything.” Blanchet was blown away by the fact the season is almost over but looking towards NCAA’s with positive feelings. In the women’s team results Lauren Jortberg (4th) added to her teammate's scores allowing Dartmouth to take the win with 135 points, ahead of UVM with 114 points, and Middlebury with 101 points. 

Women's 5KM Podium - Blanchet, Ogden, Sonnesyn

Tomorrow the racing action will continue with the final skate race bringing the 2018 EISA season to a close. The featured events are 15KM/20KM, mass start skate races, men starting first at 10:00AM. This race will be meaningful for all racers in different ways: for some, it is their final chance to try to qualify for NCAA’s, other’s it's the end of a quick season, and for a few, it will be the last time they race in the EISA circuit. Wishing all skiers the best of luck tomorrow and looking forward to an exciting final day. 
Click here for photos from Day 1!

EISA Alpine Skiers of the Week: Dartmouth's Brian McLaughlin and Claire Thomas

Week 5: Williams Carnival

This week's EISA Alpine Skiers of the Week are Brian McLaughlin and Claire Thomas. Their excellent races in both GS and SL this weekend helped Dartmouth College on its way to the overall carnival victory.

Brian McLaughlin (DAR)
Photo: Dartmouthsports.com

McLaughlin won both the GS and SL races at Jiminy Peak and Berkshire East this weekend, a first for the Dartmouth senior. He bested the runners-up in each race by nearly half a second.

Claire Thomas (DAR)
Photo: Dartmouthsports.com

It's not an easy thing to ascend the results sheet during Carnival season, especially as a first-year (and in two events!). Thomas earns her first EISA Alpine Skier of the Week for finishing fourth in both races this weekend.

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The EISA Regional Championships begin tomorrow at Middlebury College with SL races. Check back for more info throughout the weekend.

Williams Carnival - Day 2 Nordic Video Recap

Videos made by - Blazing Pines Productions - India Harvey 

(Subscribe on Youtube to get the latest video action)

Williams Carnival - Day 1 Nordic Video Recap

Videos made by - Blazing Pines Productions - India Harvey 

(Subscribe on Youtube to get the latest video action)

EISA Nordic Skiers of the Week - Williams Carnival

Sam Wood - Middlebury - 1st in Classic, 8th in Skate 

Photo - Middlebury Athletics

Cate Brams - Middlebury - 2nd in Classic, 7th in Skate

Photo - Middlebury Athletics

McLaughlin and Moltzan sweep the Williams Carnival alpine races

Men's Results

Women's Results

Team Results

The EISA alpine teams gathered today at Berkshire East in Charlemont, MA, for the Williams Carnival slalom (SL) races.

What a difference a day makes. 

In the short amount of time it takes the Earth to rotate away and back towards the sun, the skies cleared, the temperatures dropped, and the density of Berkshire County’s snowpack increased. 

(Although, technically, Berkshire East ski resort is in Franklin County. I know, it’s confusing.)

Everyone was relieved. Coaches were free to recuperate their sore muscles from yesterday’s vigorous salt-throwing efforts. Particularly fastidious skiers were carefree — no need to worry about the deleterious effects of NaCl absorption in finely ground skis.

But the day wasn’t without challenge. Berkshire East happens to be home to the EISA’s longest SL races. The main run is a broad slope that pitches to a merciless flat (Usain Bolt could probably run a 100m dash over its length) before rolling finally down a steep drop to the finish line. The course set invariably demands the maximum gate count, and finishing times are usually over — or at least around — a minute. In fact, today’s slalom race was longer than a lot of the GS races we’ve seen on the circuit this season. This leaves a lot of skiers exhausted at the finish. Some of them flop over from fatigue, a sight more familiar at a Nordic race than an alpine competition.

Dartmouth College was able to maintain their significant lead from yesterday. They handily won both the women’s and men’s SL races today, and finished the Carnival with 990 points (tallying both alpine and Nordic events). UVM took second with 910, and Middlebury College scored 756 for third place.

Paula Moltzan is 5-0 this year in EISA SL competition, which is remarkable. Like yesterday, she came from behind after first run to win the race overall. Her combined time of 2:05.75 was less than a half-second ahead of Dartmouth’s Foreste Peterson (2:06.19). Genevieve Frigon (2:06.74) of UNH had a breakthrough race for the season and rounded out the podium in third.

Frigon’s coach, Brian Blank, was relieved by the strong finish. This is the time of year when coaches and athletes begin to feel the pressure of trying to qualify for the NCAA Championships because after this week, there is only one more carnival.

There is no hard-and-fast formula that determines what results, specifically, an athlete needs in order to definitively qualify for the championships. But a rule-of-thumb is that she would need at least two solid top-10 results in a single discipline. Even better: a top-10 and a podium finish, which Frigon earned today.

“She needed today. Big time,” Blank said. “She’s only had one other result this year in slalom. She had a sixth [place], and her next best result was, like, a 23rd. She hasn’t been finishing a lot of second runs, so it was starting to get a little bit stressful in terms of qualifying for NCAA champs, but she needed to do it today, and she did. And she came in third, which was even better than she needed to do. She’s pretty happy right now, and so am I.”

For the uninitiated: The NCAA Championships qualifying procedure is convoluted, and I won't go into it fully. But it is worth stopping to talk a little more about it. Many of these race recaps highlight only the podium finishers, or maybe the top-5 in a race. And, many of these athletes hail from Dartmouth and UVM, the dominant EISA teams. But the finishes outside the ‘sea of green’ are important because each college or university can send only a maximum of three athletes to the championships. A school like Dartmouth might carry six of the top-twelve female skiers in the east, but only three of them can go to the championships. 

So a finish like Frigon’s sixth place (which she scored at the UVM Carnival) didn’t get reported here, but it becomes important in the context of a podium run like today's. Though usually unmentioned, these are the combinations of races that shape the EISA squad sent out to Steamboat. There will be many names on the list of NCAA qualifiers that might be unfamiliar. But the fact is: they are accomplished skiers who have raced well and consistently — outside the limelight, just beyond the podium.

The winner of today’s men’s SL race, though, is one that should be familiar to many of you: Brian McLaughlin, a senior from Dartmouth, wrapped up his first pair of victories at a single carnival. He won the GS yesterday, and today he bested runner-up Erik Arvidsson of Middlebury by nearly a half-second, finishing in a combined time of 1:52.36. Arvidsson’s time was 1:52.79. Third place went to McLaughlin’s teammate, Thomas Woolson (1:52.92).

McLaughlin was pleased with his finish. He hadn’t yet won a race outright this season, so to do it twice in two days was something special.

“I’ve never done that before, which is really cool,” McLaughlin said. “I hadn’t gotten to the top of the podium this year, so it’s really cool to put two races together this weekend. Four runs, to make it happen.”

The second-place finisher, Arviddson — a first-year student — is inching his way to the top of the podium. He’s stood in third place already this season, and today he moved a step higher. 

Middlebury Assistant Coach Abby Copeland knows that there’s more to come, and was complimentary of Arviddson’s run today.

“The guy is really serious. He is all business up there,” Copeland said. “He skied the upper section — both runs — really, really well, and then he just put the hammer down in the flats during second run. It was solid. We’re really psyched with where he’s at, and it’s good to know he’s right in there with everybody else.”

The pressure is on as the EISA regular season comes to a close next week. We'll head to Middlebury College for the final carnival and the EISA Regional Championships. Middlebury is a favorite of both athletes and coaches —  it's known for its festive atmosphere and strong student turnout. Copeland is crossing her fingers that the weather holds out and allows a good race. 

“We’re really excited. The gang gets really excited for Middlebury Carnival, and rightly so,” Copeland said. “It’s a really fun, positive atmosphere, and the school shows up in throngs to watch it. I’m just hoping for good weather next week, so we can have a good surface, so that we can have a nice good race.”