The University of Vermont (UVM) hosted their Carnival slalom (SL) races today under decidedly calmer skies than yesterday (to the relief of everyone: skiers, coaches, parents, gatekeepers, me). The highlight for many was the guest appearances of a handful of non-collegiate racers, including two-time Olympian Nolan Kasper and Rally the Catamount.
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| Rally the Catamount lays them [the skis] over. |
Dartmouth and UVM split the SL races: Dartmouth’s women’s team beat UVM, 126-118; and UVM’s men beat out Dartmouth 123-116. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) capped off a strong weekend, finishing third in both events.
The overall UVM Carnival win went to Dartmouth. They were helped by their Nordic skiing squad, which won three out of the four events this weekend: the Big Green put together a total of 969 points to UVM’s 932. UNH was third with 701.
In the men’s SL race, Tanguy Nef (DAR) came back from a disappointing DNF yesterday to best the collegiate field by nearly two seconds. His combined time of 1:45.43 was well ahead of second-place finisher Max Roeisland (1:47.51) of UVM.
Nef is riding a high right now. He won both races at last week’s St. Mike’s Carnival. In the Colby races, he was second and third in Giant Slalom (GS) and SL, respectively. Last season, he had just a single podium finish.
Dartmouth College Men’s Head Coach Peter Dodge describes Nef’s ascent as a combination of steady improvement and adjustment to college life.
“When he came to school, he had been injured for a year,” Dodge said. “I think last year in slalom he was just getting used to the college thing. He was a little nervous. This year, it’s just been kind of a progression, really. I think he’s used to things.”
Though it took Nef a year to come into his own on the EISA circuit, first-year Middlebury College skier Erik Arvidsson has settled right in. He came through in third today with a time of 1:47.61.
Middlebury Assistant Coach Abby Copeland cited Arvidsson’s finish as one of the Panthers’ weekend highlights.
“He’s been skiing fast slalom all year,” Copeland said. “And it’s nice to see him put two really good runs together. It was also really awesome for him to rally…after a really tough day of GS for our men’s team [yesterday]. Hopefully we can continue to move forward from here.”
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| (L to R): Max Roeisland (2nd, UVM), Tanguy Nef (1st, DAR), Erik Arvidsson (3rd, MID) |
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In the women’s race, Paula Moltzan continued her win-streak, making it four-in-a-row for the Catamount skier. She won both races this weekend, as well as the Colby SL makeup race last Sunday, and the St. Mike’s SL before that.
Today, she finished in a combined time of 1:49.68, beating Dartmouth’s Foreste Peterson (1:51.05). Peterson was followed closely by her teammate Alexa Dlouhy, who was just .10 seconds back in 1:51.15.
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| (L to R): Foreste Peterson (2nd, DAR), Paula Moltzan (1st, UVM), Alexa Dlouhy (3rd, DAR) |
UVM Head Coach Bill Reichelt commented earlier this weekend that Moltzan seems to be thriving in college after spending some time on the World Cup circuit. He attributed part of the success to the team-centric focus of Carnivals — to skiing for something beyond oneself.
“The difference in environment was really healthy for her,” Reichelt said. “The national team can kind of beat you down mentally…On the World Cup circuit, you’ve got one run: if you don’t get a second run, that’s it. You’re just waiting for the next one. I think it’s a breath of fresh air, coming to a college team. You’ve got something else…of value.”
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We seem to be at a point in the season when things are shaking out a bit. Patterns are appearing in the results in terms of who’s consistently standing on the podium each week. It’s also when we start to see consistency among some of the newer faces in EISA. In addition to Middlebury’s Arvidsson, as noted above, UVM’s Francesca English (1:51.54) placed fourth today, nearing her third place finish from the Colby Carnival SL. And though we’re used to seeing the blur of green from UVM and Dartmouth athletes high up in the results, first-year Colby College skier Rosie Hust (1:52.38) has been in the mix: she finished fifth today. Last weekend at the Colby SL, she finished fourth.
Colby College Head Coach Danny Noyes was impressed by her performance.
“Rosie’s a real strong slalom skier,” Noyes said. “But the really cool thing — when I was recruiting her and watching her ski — is how dynamic she is, because that can apply anywhere. Rosie’s been working hard this year, adjusting to school, but also to the Eastern circuit. Last Sunday, she just started turning it on and flipping the switch. It carried over today, which was fantastic.”
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Next Friday is a big day: we head to the historic Dartmouth Skiway, and the Olympics kick off in South Korea. As the games progress, keep an eye out for EISA skiers Freydis Einarsdottir, a Plymouth State University athlete competing for Iceland; and UVM’s Laurence St-Germain, who is skiing for Canada.
