The nation’s top collegiate skiers ascended Spruce Peak at Stowe Mountain Resort this week for the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Skiing Championships.
After one day each of Nordic and alpine races, the EISA is doing pret-ty well: Dartmouth College sits atop the standings with 259 points. The University of Utah is close behind in second place with 252.5 points, trailing by just 6.5. (Yes, you can score 1/2 points.) Our host, the University of Vermont, is in third: 245 points.
The Coloradans, Denver University and Colorado University, are neck and neck for fourth and fifth: DU 228, CU 218.
Of all the teams, Dartmouth has the most to cheer about. Their rise to the top of the scorecard was fueled largely by their dominant performance in the men’s GS race. When it was all said and done, the Big Green placed three finishers in the top-four…*suspenseful pause*…including the overall win by Tanguy Nef.
Dartmouth’s Nef led the race wire to wire, winning both runs to dominate the field by more than a full second. He crossed the finish in a time of 1:56.10, well ahead of DU’s Simon Fournier (2nd; 1:57.35), and was greeted by a cheering gaggle of his teammates in the corral. With today’s win, he now has two NCAA Champion plaques for his dorm room bookshelf.
Nef’s teammate James Ferri (3rd; 1:57.56) claimed the final podium spot, capping off a stellar rise this season: Ferri finished outside the top-10 at the SLU Carnival in January, and incrementally worked his way towards the podium over the ensuing races. At the EISA Regional Championships at Sunday River, Ferri finally stood on the top step after winning the GS race, and he carried that momentum into today.
Drew Duffy (1:57.71) rounded out Dartmouth’s score with his fourth-place result, just four-hundredths of a second ahead of DU’s Tobias Kogler (5th; 1:57.75). CU’s Max Luukko finished sixth in a time of 1:57.83, fending off Martin Arene (7th; 1:57.84) from Westminster College by an agonizing .01 seconds.
The final All-America spots were claimed by Middlebury’s Justin Alkier and UNH’s Patrick Kenney. Alkier’s ninth place finish in 1:58.42 was a welcome score after Middlebury’s two studs, Erik Arvidsson and Tim Gavett, both DNFd during the first run. UNH’s Kenney finished in 1:58.46 (10th).
In the women’s competition, the UVM Catamounts had a day to write home about. Although, they were racing at home, so…A day to write about? What I’m saying is: The Catamounts had a great day.
After taking time away from EISA competition in 2018 (to, among other things, compete at the XXIII Olympic Winter Games), Laurence St-Germain returned in style and won her first NCAA title. Her teammate, Paula Moltzan, finished fifth.
St-Germain won in a time of 2:00.57, nearly one-half second ahead of the University of Utah’s Roni Remme (2nd; 2:01.02). St-Germain was only fifth on the first run, but the second go-round secured her victory: She won the second run by .51 seconds, and won the race by .45 seconds. Dartmouth’s Patricia Mangan (2:01.56) was the third place finisher this afternoon. Her podium result was crucial to the Big Green’s team success today.
CU’s Mikaela Tommy (2:01.64) was fourth, well ahead of UVM’s Moltzan (2:02.01), and DU’s Tuva Norbye took sixth place in a time of 2:02.26.
The University of New Hampshire’s Lisa Olsson and Emma Woodhouse represented their school and the EISA well: they both finished in the top-10 to claim All-America honors. Olsson finished seventh in 2:02.50, and Woodhouse (2:02.64) was ninth.
The major heartbreak came for Middlebury College’s Caroline Bartlett (11th; 2:02.90). For the second year in a row, she led the race after the first run but was unable to secure victory. As she came down the pitch during the second run, she seemed to have trouble moving cleanly from turn-to-turn, ultimately finishing more than two seconds back in 11th.
Tomorrow, everyone returns to Main Street for SL training ahead of Saturday’s races. If you can’t make it out on Saturday to cheer on the skiers, tune in to the NCAA website to watch the livestream.
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