Yesterday’s miserable wintry mix was nowhere to be seen this morning as bluebird conditions and frigid temperatures greeted the EISA alpine racers for day two of the Bates Carnival. The fresh snow from yesterday froze relatively solid after a great groom on T2 and Monday Mourning, and the bright sun brought some welcome warmth as skiers geared up for some killer GS.
Dartmouth had an exceptional day, with four Big Green skiers on the GS podium, and Middlebury and UVM grabbed one win each. Gwen Wattenmaker, a Dartmouth freshman, locked down third place with a seventh place first run (1:06.51) and second place second run (1:12.95). Sophomore teammate Abi Jewett kept it going with a fourth place first run (1:06.09_ and the fastest second run (1:12.80), grabbing second place. The Catamounts pounced on first place, with junior Josefine Selvaag ripping the fastest first run (1:05.19) and third fastest second run (1:13.40).
The men, arcing onto the GS course after the women, also found Dartmouth claiming the bottom two steps on the podium—Drew Duffy, the medal-hungry Dartmouth sophomore, started slow with the 13th fastest first run (1:04.78, more than a second and a half out from the lead) but screamed down the hill for the field’s fastest second run (1:10.06). Fellow sophomore Andrew Miller grabbed sixth on his first run (1:04.01) but then found enough speed to come screeching in just behind Duffy and claim second place with the second fastest second run (1:10.34). The Middlebury panthers clawed their way to the top of the men’s GS heap for the second time this season with junior Justin Alkier’s admirable performance—he grabbed fourth place on his first run (1:03.76) and third on his second (1:10.54), skiing far more consistently than the competition and grabbing the W.