Friday, March 9, 2018

Ogden reigns as a National Champion and Dartmouth Men put on a strong showing at NCAA's

What a day it was for the East on Day 2 of the NCAA Skiing Championship in Steamboat Springs, CO. The first Nordic competition featured a 5KM/10K Classic Race in which women completed one lap and men two. Blue Skies, vast snow coverage, and warm weather made for a great day of skiing at the Howelsen Hill Ski Area. 

In the women’s 5KM race, Dartmouth freshman Katharine Ogden took the win in 14:47, nearly 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Anne Siri Lervik from University of Colorado, and a minute from third-place finisher Hailey Swirlbul (UAA). Post-race, Ogden told announcers, “I love racing at altitude” and then gave a shout out to the Dartmouth Wax techs for her insanely fast skis. Ogden’s teammate, Lydia Blanchet also managed to notch All-American status finishing in a time of 15:57 which earned her 9th place. UVM’s Alayna Sonnesyn was third for EISA women coming in 15th place with a time of 16:20. Another notable mention was Middlebury freshman Alexandra Lawson who was EISA’s 12th qualifier, yet in the 5K race, she finished in 4th for the East and 18th overall. 

In the women’s Nordic team results Dartmouth led the East with 72 points but overall took second behind the University of Colorado who took the top spot with 84 points. Middlebury College earned 33 points making them tie for 8th, and the University of Vermont earned 16 points in 10th.

Women's 5K Classic Podium - Photo - Clarkson Creative
In the men’s 10KM race Dartmouth continued to put on a showing with Junior Callan DeLine finishing the course in 28:33, earning him sixth place. DeLine was about a minute back from University of Utah Winner Martin Bergstrom coming in at 27:37. Prior to flying out, DeLine shared that he was excited to return to Colorado, because it was “practically a home course,” being originally from Vail. Dartmouth Senior Luke Brown finished his race in 28:38, coincidentally causing him to also come in 9th just like his female teammate Blanchet. UNH’s Peter Holmes was third for the EISA men coming in 11th with a time of 28:54. Zane Fields (CBC), Braden Becker (WIL), and Sam Wood (MID) ended up stealing places 14th through 16th, five seconds separating Becker from Fields, and only a second separating Wood from Becker. 

In the men’s Nordic team results Dartmouth came in 4th with 49 points, with the overall leaders being Denver with 73 points. Middlebury college came in 5th with 35 points and the University of Vermont came in 12th with 12 points. Overall when combining both men and women’s points from alpine and Nordic, the University of Colorado sits in first with 276 points, Denver in second with 267 points, and Utah in 3rd with 237 points. Dartmouth sits in 4th with 217.5 points, UVM sits in 5th with 162 points, and Middlebury sits in 6th with 143 points. 

Nordic action continues on Saturday, March 10th with a 15KM/20KM, mass start, freestyle event. Living steaming and timing is available on the NCAA website: https://cubuffs.com/sports/2018/2/12/2018-ncaa-skiing-championships.aspx

Video Recap: https://www.ncaa.com/video/skiing/2018-03-08/nc-skiing-2018-championship-day-two-freestyle-recap
Women’s Overall 5KM Results: http://rmisaskiing.com/liven.php?r=1626
Men’s Overall 10KM Results: http://rmisaskiing.com/liven.php?r=1627
Current Team Scores: https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/cubuffs.com/documents/2018/3/8/NCAA_Skiing_Championships_Results.pdf