UVM Uses Strong Alpine Performances to Win UNH Carnival

Dom Garand of the University of Vermont, skis during the first run of the men's slalom at the UNH Carnival at Cannon Mountain on January 25, 2014 in Franconia, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

Dustin Satloff

FRANCONIA, NH. - The University of New Hampshire hosted the slalom at a snowy, windy Cannon Mountain.  For the fifth time this season the winner of both the men’s and women’s races are from University of Vermont, however it is the first time this season that the woman is not Kate Ryley.  Elise Tefre took her first win of the season after logging the fastest time in each run.  Dom Garand won his second race of the season.  It was his first slalom win of the year.

Vermont was once again dominant.  Dom Garand and Taylor Wunsch finished one-two, with teammate Travis Dawson taking fourth place.  Fourth is Dawson’s lowest finish of the year.  Vermont, finished occupying the top two spots for the second straight race.  The strong finish helped lead Vermont’s to a 31 point slalom victory over runner-up Middlebury.

Middlebury had three men finish in the top-10.  Hig Roberts had his second podium finish of the weekend, taking third.  Ghassan Gedeon-Achi finished eighth in the slalom; it was his second top-10 finish of the weekend.  Chris McKenna rounded out the scoring for Middlebury finishing in 10^th.

Hig Roberts of Middlebury College, skis during the first run of the men's slalom at the UNH Carnival at Cannon Mountain on January 25, 2014 in Franconia, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

New Hampshire, who finished only five points behind Middlebury on the men’s side performed well in their home slalom.  Coley Oliver rebounded after a rough day in the giant slalom on Friday, and finished in fifth place, right ahead of teammate Kris Hopkins.  Sam Coffey was UNH’s third point scorer, placing in 14^th.

It was a similar story for the UVM women on Saturday.  For the second time in two days, the UVM women placed 3 skiers in the top-5, and for the second time in two days Kristina Riis-Johannessen had to recover from a shaky first run to pull herself back up to a top-5 finish.  On Friday, Riis-Johannessen struggled, finishing 14^th after the first run, however a fast second run brought her up 10 spots into fourth.  The story was similar on Saturday.  Riis-Johannessen finished 14^th again and was able to pull herself back into fifth.  Elise Tefre, who posted the two fastest runs of the day leading to her first victory of the season, and first win since the Dartmouth Carnival in 2012.  Kate Ryley, who gave up her spot atop the podium to her teammate Tefre, finished in third.

Lizzie Kistler, after struggling at the Colby Carnival, gets her second podium finish of the year taking second.  Sara Kikut also placed in the top-10 for Dartmouth, finishing sixth.  Rose Caston scored for the first time in her career, finishing 20^th and rounding out Dartmouth’s scoring.  Dartmouth’s women finished in second, 26 points behind UVM.

Sara Kikut of Dartmouth College, skis during the first run of the women's slalom at the UNH Carnival at Cannon Mountain on January 25, 2014 in Franconia, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

Colby’s women are continuing to perform above expectations.  Mardi Haskell and Paige Whistler both finished in the top-10, finishing in seventh and ninth respectively.  Haskell’s finish is her second top-10 of the season.  Whistler posted a new career best, and her first top-10 of her career.  Sierra Leavitt matched her career best of 17^th.  Leavitt was Colby’s third point-scorer.  Colby’s women took third in the slalom, edging UNH out by 4 points.

Mardi Haskell of Colby College, skis during the first run of the women's slalom at the UNH Carnival at Cannon Mountain on January 25, 2014 in Franconia, VT. (Dustin Satloff/EISA)

UNH started off their home slalom very strong.  UNH had five skiers in the top 20 after the first run, however only two of them remained there after the second run.  Randa Teschner finished in finished in fourth, tying her best slalom finish of the season.  Morgan Klein finished in 14^th and Kelly Anne Dinapoli concluded the scoring for UNH, finishing back in 29^th.

Bates and Middlebury both placed two women in the top 20.  Yina Moe-Lange and Kara Shaw finished in 11^th and 15^th for Middlebury, while Anne Rockwell and Kelsey Chenoweth took 12^th and 19^th for Bates.

UVM wins its second carnival victory of the season scoring 953 points, beating runner-up Dartmouth who had 870 points.  This victory is a result of Vermont’s alpine dominance of the UNH Carnival.  UVM outscored Dartmouth by 149 points on the alpine side, which was vital to Vermont’s team victory.