Home » Middlebury Carnival: Day 1
Dartmouth in Tenuous Lead
Ripton, VT: The first day of the Middlebury Carnival dawned bright and beautiful with diffused sunlight filtering through trees draped in new fallen snow. Yet the foot and a half of new fallen powder proved too much for the alpine course, pushing the start time back to eleven as the course was cleared of the new fluff. The new snow also placed a burden on the Rikert touring center's poor old Pistenbully which refused to start, pushing the Nordic start back by an hour.
Once the races started, Dartmouth powered to an overall lead of 449 points. Yet the margin was slim as the University of Vermont, hungry for that illusive win, snuck in only four points behind with 445 points. The third place finisher was host Middlebury with 378 points.
On the rolling hills of the Rikert Touring center, groomed with a snowcat generously lent by Tony Clark at the last minute, Dartmouth took the top two spots in the Women's 10k mass start classic race with Rosie Brennan posting a commanding winning time of 31:09.2. Next up for the Big Green was last weekend's dual champion, Sophie Caldwell clocking a 31:34.8. Finishing up the top three was a breakout performance by Bates' Natalie Ruppertsburger with a 31:45.2.
For the Men's 10k classic mass start the University of Vermont's Franz Berstein took top honors with a time of 26:35.8. Following close behind was fellow Catamount and German countryman Juergen Uhl, posting a time of 26:38.3 for second place. Dartmouth's Glenn Randall clocked a 26:40.9 for a third place finish.
On the steeps of the Middlebury Snow Bowl the Catamounts claimed both individual wins in the Slalom. For the women Megan Ryley took top honors with a time of 1:37.69 while Dartmouth's Courtney Hammond took second place with a time of 1:37.79. Catamount Jilyne McDonald took third place 1:37.89.
For the Men the University of Vermont's David Donaldson was the man of the day laying down a 1:32.48 for first place followed by the University of New Hampshire's Sean McNamara 1:32.56. Middlebury's Andrew Wagner rounded out the podium with a 1:32.83 for third place.
Interview with Megan Ryley
* sorry, I know Eastern Cup and Europa Cup are two very different things!