Home » NCAA: Day Two Results
Vermont takes lead, but only by two points
Newry, ME: The University of Vermont seemed to take in the solar energy from the brilliantly beautiful day at the NCAA Championships in Maine and turn it into speed, using their alpine strength to propel them into first place with 484 points.
Vermont can not take much pleasure from this fact however as the University of Denver is only two points back with 482 points followed by the University of New Mexico with 481 points, both teams with strong and aggressive Nordic squads.
The aggressive Catamount charge was led by Jilyne McDonald placing third with a total time of 1:44.29 followed closely by teammate Megan Ryley who skied to fourth with a total time of 1:44.36. First on the men's side was Erik Gilbert. However the course took its toll, knocking out their lead David Donaldson as well as a few other top skiers.
For the east McDonald and Ryley lead the women while Aileen Farrell followed into fifth place. For the eastern men, the lead skier was Colby's Joshua Kernan who put together two blazing runs to finish up fourth with a total 1:38.10. Kernan was followed by University of New Hampshire skier Sean McNamara who clocked a 1:38.16.
Team wise, the west took the top six spots with the exception of the University of Vermont. The University of New Hampshire slid in ahead of Dartmouth into seventh place with 368 points. Dartmouth followed for ninth with 359 points and Middlebury in tenth with 331 points.
Be sure to check the live timing tomorrow (barttiming.com) as it is going to be extremely close. The University of Vermont has a running chance of clinching the national title and one can be certain their Nordic squad will be giving its all tomorrow.
NCAA Official Press Release, by Andy Walter of Bates College
New Mexico surges into crowded top three at NCAA Skiing Championships
March 13, 2009
BETHEL, Maine -- University of Colorado freshman Gabriel Rivas won the men's slalom title on Friday at the NCAA Skiing Championships at Sunday River, while New Mexico's Malin Hemmingsson and Estelle Pecherand-Carmet went 1-2 in the women's slalom, leading the Lobos to surge from sixth place to three points out of first place in the team standings, with one day remaining in the championships.
Vermont took a slight lead among a tightly packed top three in the team standings. The Catamounts, looking for their first team title since 1994, have 484 points. Defending champion University of Denver has 482 points and New Mexico has 481. Utah (444) and Colorado (439.5) round out the top five teams.
It’s only the third time in the last 13 seasons the lead has been in single digits at the three-quarter point; in 1997, Utah led CU by seven and went on to win by 39.5 points; and in 2006, Colorado led Denver by five before posting a 98-point win.
Rivas, a native of St. Jean de Maurienne, France, had the fastest run of the day in his first run, at 47.77 seconds, and claimed his first NCAA title with a combined time of 1:36.69, a day after finishing 18th in the giant slalom.
"Since I've been in the U.S., I've thought about this race, and it's very special because it's only a one-day race, not a ranking," said Rivas. "It's really an achievement to do that. I won, but everyone won at CU; it's teamwork."
Rivas was 0.81 seconds ahead of runner-up Petter Brenner of New Mexico. Rounding out the top five individuals were Leif Haugen of Denver, Joshua Kernan of Colby and Sean McNamara of New Hampshire.
Rivas is Colorado's first NCAA champion in men's slalom since Andy Leroy in 2000.
New Mexico continued its powerhouse day in the women's slalom. Hemmingsson won her second NCAA slalom title, with a two-run combined time of 1:42.36, after also taking first in 2007 as a freshman. She was followed by her sophomore teammate, Estelle Pecherand-Carmet, at 1:43.58. Vermont duo Jilyne McDonald and Megan Ryley were fourth and fifth, respectively, and New Hampshire's Aileen Farrell rounded out the top five.
"It feels great -- I did it two years ago [when New Hampshire hosted the NCAAs], so I guess I like the ice," said Hemmingsson. "We were skiing on mogul courses all year, and then we come here and we can actually push, so it's pretty cool. This year we still have a chance of winning [the team title] if we do good in Nordic tomorrow, and we are."
The alpine competition at the NCAA Championships closes out with New Mexico scoring the most points in alpine, with 354 points, just a point ahead of New Hampshire (353).
The NCAA Skiing Championships conclude tomorrow with the Nordic freestyle races at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine. The women's 15K Freestyle race starts at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 20K Freestyle at 12 p.m.
The three-point difference between the top three teams is the closest heading into the final two events in the NCAA Championships since the sport went coed in 1983; the previous tightest margin among the top three through six events came in 1997, when Utah (533), Colorado (526) and Vermont (524.5) were separated by eight-and-a-half points.
The closest margin in the final standings since 1983 came in 1998, when Colorado edged Utah by 2.5 points; the final spread has been 10 points or lower just four times (1986, 1989, 1995 and 1998).