Lyme, NH - The Dartmouth Carnival officially kicked off on Friday with a second day of racing at the Dartmouth Skiway. The good weather continued with sunny skies, and the decision not to groom the hill kept the surface in excellent condition.
Oliver Morgan (Dartmouth) - Stephen R Cloutier
Two full send sets were in store for the field as Bates and hosts Dartmouth set straighter with plenty of distance. The University of Vermont team clearly had the hill down yesterday, but would they be able to repeat their performances? They did not start off hot as yesterday's winner, Hanna Larsson-Nathhorst, skied out. Another contender for the win would also go out as Helene Kristoffersen (Saint Michael's) skied out in the flatter middle section. Justine Clement (UVM) was ready to step up in her teammate's absence as she skied to the fastest time on the opening run.
Hot on Clements's tail and only one-hundredth of a second back was her teammate, Cydnie Timmerman. The two commanded a rather large four-tenths lead over the rest of the field, but it couldn't be closer behind them. Hannah Soria (Colby), winner of the Harvard Carnival Giant Slalom, sat in third with Tindra Bergstrand (Plymouth State) and Olivia Holm (Dartmouth) less than a tenth back.
Cydnie Timmerman (UVM) - Stephen R Cloutier
A very minor redress preceded the men's first run, and then it was the men's turn. Declan McCormack (UVM) looked unstoppable as he attacked the hill, leaving a trail of broken gates in his wake. On a hill where tenths of a second can make or break days. McCormack won the run by half a second over Simen Strand (Saint Michael's) and Nick Unkovskoy (Middlebury). McCormack's lead on run one was the same as the time between second and tenth place, showing the difficult task of facing the top guys if they wanted to hunt him down.
On the second run, two amazing runs from the 'home team,' Dartmouth, saw Holm and Gwen Wattenmaker move up into the top group. Wattenmaker finished inside the top 10 for the first time this season as she skied to fifth place. Holm attacked the flatter section with aggression to land her first podium in two seasons. For Holm, it was the culmination of hard work made even sweeter by the venue, "It feels great having everything come together on race day, and all the better that I was able to execute on my home hill with friends and family around."
The top step on the women's podium continued to belong to UVM as Timmerman narrowly edged Clement to win the race and deliver valuable points.
Olivia Holm (Dartmouth) - Stephen R Cloutier
A rock-solid second run from Isac Hedstroem (UNH) saw him catapult five skiers to finish just off the podium in fourth. Similarly, a clean and attacking run from Oliver Morgan (Dartmouth) saw him climb onto the podium. Despite his best efforts, and they were significant, Strand would have to settle for second as he was only able to crawl back four-tenths on McCormack, who cruised to victory.
Combined with a day of Nordic racing at Oak Hill, the Catamounts look nearly unstoppable as they won all four events contested on the day (Men's and Women's Freestyle Sprint and Men's and Women's Giant Slalom). Hosts Dartmouth sat in a distant second but clear of the University of New Hampshire in third.
Bottom of Course (Dartmouth Skiway) - Carolyn Beckedorff
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