It’s finally here, folks. It’s the final carnival of the season and NCAA regional championship, hosted up in the Great White North of Vermont by Middlebury. The morning started off dark, gray, and chilly with nice gusting wind and a fair bit of flat light. Seven inches of fresh from yesterday’s storm settled into a chalky, crumbly top layer of snow hiding a variable but mostly firm surface underneath. As the day progressed, the clouds cleared and racers in the second run enjoyed some seriously nice sun and slightly less wind than earlier.
Middlebury men had another fantastic day, bolstered by the fighting spirit of the Panther. Junior speed demon Erik Arvidsson piped a third place first run and sixth place second run to earn him third place, and local legend Tim Gavett knifed a second place first run and third place second run for a first place finish. Teammate Justin Alkier started the day off speedy with the first place first run, raising eyebrows and setting up for an all Panther podium, but unfortunately DNF’d on his second run. Arcing his way into second place and breaking up the two Mid skiers was Sandy Vietze, skiing independently and evidently very well with a fifth place first run and second place second run.
Over on the women’s course, Dartmouth found considerable success and Middlebury continued having a good day. Dartmouth skiers Stephanie Currie and Tricia Mangan locked in fifth and fourth place, respectively, and the Big Green crept onto the podium with a third place finish from Abi Jewett (second fastest first run, sixth fastest second run) and a second place finish from Claire Thomas (third fastest first run, second fastest second run). Middlebury ace freshman Ali Nullmeyer, coming off a pretty serious thumb injury, blew the competition away to get the big W with the fastest first and second runs.
Tomorrow, EISA racers return to the Snow Bowl to duke it out for the GS crown and lock in the eastern representatives for NCAA nationals in March.