Fields continues streak and Dartmouth women dominate on day 2 of Dartmouth Carnival

The second day of the Dartmouth carnival held in Hanover, NH featured individual-start, 5KM/10KM, skate races. Since the races were combined with the Silver Fox Trot Eastern Cup it ended up being quite the event with nearly four hundred racers there to compete. All races were held on a 5KM race loop which included some of the same gradual climbs and sweeping downhills from Friday’s course.

Temperatures were substantially warmer than Friday, settling in the mid-thirties by the time the women's race came around. Despite the rise, the course conditions continued to be prime for racing and it even lightly snowed throughout the day. These aspects made it the best of both worlds for racers and spectators.

The men’s race kicked off at 10:00 AM with a 10KM race involving competitors to complete the 5KM loop twice. Within the EISA carnival circuit, the results featured both podium regulars and breakout performances. Colby’s Zane Fields has now won four consecutive skate races, notched the top spot in 25:59, fourteen seconds ahead of runner-up Callan DeLine (DAR) in 26:13, with third-place finisher Cully Brown (UVM) coming in 26:19.

Upon first hearing of Zane Fields (CBC) goal to win every skate race in the 2018 season, it appeared to be a bold and ambitious goal. To win six different races throughout one season and beat some of the fastest and fittest skiers in the nation seems almost too good to be true. Now with 4 races under his belt and only two races left to conquer it seems completely possible. Fields commented that although he was happy with the result, he was “super tired” from the race the previous day. The race being an Eastern Cup allowed for strong senior racers to also compete, one of which named Rogan Brown was seeded the bib before Fields and ended up grabbing second in the NENSA competition results. Fields commented that “I would have liked to catch some guys in front of me because I knew they were some fast guys, but you know I just kind of tried to pedal to the metal.”

Runner-Up Callan DeLine (DAR) also commented about being tired from Friday’s 10K race, but the fact that he knew the course and was strong enough to podium made him happy with the result. When asked about his strategy he shared: “I just wanted to go for it. It is a tough course where you really have to work. I tried to ski well on the sections that you had to work, set it on the hills, and kind of hang on and see what I could do.” The course conditions he said were great because of the rising temperatures, making for “punchy good skiing.” Although this is DeLine’s first podium of the season, he says that “I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. I think I’m in a pretty good spot to hopefully pop some good races and be fit for the rest of it.

Callan DeLine in the start preparing to pop a 2nd place finish

Third place finisher, Cully Brown (UVM) pulled out a breakout performance making him quite happy with the result. Brown stated that he knew the start was relatively fast so he “wanted to start off with quite a bit of speed and just hold on as long as [he] could.” He shared that the hardest part of the course is when he got a split that he could possibly be on the podium and just trying to hold that until the finish. Brown is looking forward to final two races and “ramping up the progress and hopefully making NCAA’s.” In the men’s team competition, Adam Glueck (5th) and Gavin McEwan (6th) worked with DeLine to grab first for Dartmouth with 123 points, UVM coming in second with 116 points, and Middlebury coming in third with 83 points.

In the women’s race, the Dartmouth women continued to dominate the competition with Katharine Ogden winning the 5KM race in 14:01 ahead of her teammate Lauren Jortberg (DAR) finishing in 14:14. Alayna Sonnesyn (UVM) rounded out the podium in third finishing in 14:17. Ogden commented that she felt really good about her race and enjoyed the home carnival atmosphere which was filled with many Dartmouth fans. She commented that although the snow was slow at points “it was amazing that we had enough skiing at home,” driving her to give it all on her home course.

Runner-Up Lauren Jortberg thought it was an extremely fun course but found the conditions to be rather inconsistent throughout. “In some parts, it was really fast and others it was really slow and mushy, so it was a weird balance yet still really fun skiing.” Jortberg also shared about her challenges of the race: “I think the hardest part of the course is there’s a pretty big wall about 3K in and then there’s like a really long flat section right before you go into the final section and I died on that part of the course but it was still really fun out there.”

Lauren Jortberg ready to rip to a 2nd place finish

Third place finisher Alayna Sonnesyn also commented on the conditions of the course saying that, “it definitely did get a little chopped up by the time some of the girls went through but it still skied really well.” Despite her winning streak being broken, Sonnesyn was still very positive about the situation, sharing that, “I’m proud of all the girls on the circuit. I know that everyone out here is racing with all their heart and skiing for their team, so I’m just happy to be up with everyone else and having a good time.” In the women’s team competition, Taryn-Hunt Smith came in 4th, (a position she has now held for five consecutive races) helping her teammates grab first with 138 points, with UVM coming in second with 116 points, and Middlebury coming in third with 97 points.

Women's Podium - Jortberg, Ogden, and Sonnesyn

Next weekend racers will travel to the Prospect Ski Center in Woodford, VT to compete at the Williams Carnival. Friday will kick off with individual start, 5K/10K classic races, and Saturday the action will continue with freestyle sprint races. Check back later this week for video recaps! See you all next weekend!

Click here for some day 2 photos!