Dartmouth skiers Jasmine Drolet and Emma Reeder pose in pink after the race.
After an overnight freeze, the muddy parking lot at Dublin had turned to ice. The course was sugary and fast, making the downhill corners very technical. The sun was shining, however, and the atmosphere was giddy in preparation for the first and only relay of the EISA season.
The Women.
Taking the win in the women’s event was the UVM team, composed of Haley Brewster, Annie McColgan, and Waverly Gebhardt. Gebhardt closed an almost 30-second lead by Middlebury in the final lap to claim the title. “We’re pretty happy, pretty stoked,” Gebhardt told me mere minutes after her bold win. “It’s one thing to win a race but another to win a relay.” The Catamounts were beaming with excitement as they hugged after the finish line.
Left to right: Middlebury skiers Charlotte Ogden, Shea Brams, and Quincy Massey-Bierman pose after their podium result.
Despite being edged out at the line, the Middlebury team of Quincy Massey-Bierman, Charlotte Ogden, and Shea Brams were still full of excitement when I talked to them. Massey-Bierman spoke with a hoarse tone, telling me, “I was so fired up my voice is gone from cheering.” After her first lap, she handed off to Ogden in second place, where she gathered a massive lead on the rest of the field throughout her lap. “It was so hype,” Massey-Bierman tells me, “Charlotte was in beast mode.”
Women's relay podium: UVM (1st), Middlebury (2nd), and Dartmouth (3rd).
Dartmouth brought their team of Garvie Tobin, Nina Seemann, and Ava Thurston to the podium with strong racing. Thurston said she had a good time out there, and that “it was a lot of fun to compete today.”
The Williams team with their coach, Steve Monsulick, and their mascot, Beeph.
The Men.
The UVM team composed of Greg Burt, Petter Bakken, and Jacob Nystedt beat Dartmouth at the line to claim the win. Nystedt contributes the success in the final lap to his teammates, saying that “Greg and Petter put up a good position for me going into the final leg. I just tried to make the best out of it.” He says that the relay format allowed him to push harder and ski faster. “Doing a relay is something else because you know the result is not only dependent on you,” he told me. “It really makes me go the extra mile.”
Swag or drag? Dartmouth freshmen sported a stylish mullet this weekend.
The Dartmouth team took second today, with the team of Luke Allan, Jack Lange, and John Steel Hagenbuch. When I asked how he was feeling after the finish, Hagenbuch was disappointed. “I wanted to win, and I didn’t,” he said shrugging. Despite the loss, Dartmouth energy remained high. Hagenbuch’s teammate Cooper Camp, a skier on the Dartmouth 2 team that placed 5th, was pretty stoked. He liked the loud environment with lots of people cheering. “The race was really fun,” he said.
Middlebury men took third today, with Sam Hodges, Logan Moore, and Wilson Moore putting up a strong fight for the podium.
The men's relay podium: UVM (1st), Dartmouth (2nd), and Middlebury (3rd).
The Colby men placed 6th and their energy was high. They described the race as “good, fantastic, and really fun.” Giving each other a pat on the back, they told me, “It’s always good to ski with your buddies.” Cooper Anderson, a senior on the team, had a great day. “The snow was really fast, it was skiing really well, and the whole crowd out there was super fun,” he said, grinning.
Congratulations to all the relay teams on a speedy and exciting ending to a great weekend of racing. See you next week for the Williams Carnival!
Women's 10km classic podium: Ava Thurston (1st), Nina Seeman (2nd), and Shea Brams (3rd).
Men's 10km classic podium: Rémi Drolet (1st), Luke Allan (2nd), and Wilson Moore (3rd).
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