By: Caleb Horsch
Egremont, Mass. - The University of Vermont Carnival was supposed to take place during the second week of January, but a lack of snow and then unfavorable weather led to it being pushed down to the back end of the carnival schedule. While it could no longer take place at Stowe, its typical venue, a pleasant surprise was in store for racers and coaches.
Catamount Mountain, which straddles the New York-Massachusetts border, is among the Berkshire's top skiing destinations. Its racing hill has plenty of character, with a dog leg just out of the start, a top pitch followed by a long flat section, and then a more moderate pitch to the finish. The snow was fantastic, potentially the best of the carnival season.
A moderate size crowd gathered at the bottom, filled with young Catamount racers and parents eager to get a peak at the top athletes. One coach commented on the love felt by the resort, "What a treat to feel truly welcomed at a ski area and even admired by some young skiers from Catamount."
Allie Resnick (Dartmouth) - Stephen R Cloutier
It didn't take long from the start of the race to see the best of the best. Simen Strand from Saint Michael's, racing with bib number one, set down a blistering first run to lead by .74. Dan Gilis (Dartmouth) was in second place, and Declan McCormack (UVM) sat in third.
A few women's skiers will miss the closing Middlebury Carnival for the upcoming Nor-Am races at Mont Ste-Marie. Allie Resnick (Dartmouth) will be amongst them, and she was eager to improve her starting position for the NCAA Championships. On run one, she proved to be the fastest, ahead of Cydnie Timmerman (UVM) and her teammate Zoe Zimmerman.
The sun came out for the second run, warmly bathing the course. Isac Hedstroem (UNH) had committed a big mistake coming onto the flats on run one and looked to be out of the race at 2.37 seconds back. However, he skied a lights-out run two that saw him see off challenge after challenge. Finally, there was only one skier left in Strand. He showed no signs of trepidation even with his large advantage and skied aggressively onto the flats. He even expanded on his lead to win the race by over a second.
Strand tried to keep his focus despite the outside factors, “I tried not to make it too complicated and just stay focused on technical queues, solid skiing. There have been a lot of tight races this season and I have been pretty close a couple times, so it felt very good to finally nail it and get that W.”
Simen Strand (Saint Michael's) - Stephen R Cloutier
The women battled a straight second-run set that left the podium from one run completely intact. Two other UVM skiers rounded out the top 5: Moa Clementson and Justine Clement.
In the NCAA Qualifying picture, Elsie Halvorsen (Harvard) and Carissa Cassidy (Colby) grabbed top 10 results, and Charlie Lange (Middlebury) helped his chances with a fourth place.
The regular season will conclude on Friday and Saturday with the epic Middlebury Carnival. A raucous crowd will be on hand for the Saturday GS as some will make their last starts.
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