Two Victories for Middlebury at Home, Dartmouth Crowned Regional Champions
- Caleb Horsch
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
By: Caleb Horsch
The Carnival season came to a stunning conclusion during two days of racing at the Middlebury Snowbowl. The Panthers put on a show in front of busloads of cheering students, with Kjersti Moritz and Thomas Carnahan grabbing massive victories. In the team competition, buoyed by an absolutely dominating performance from their Nordic squad, Dartmouth was crowned the regional champion for the second consecutive season.
Moritz and Carnahan Lead Panthers
Kjersti Moritz captured her third GS victory of the season, making it a perfect three for three in the carnivals she started. Overcoming a disadvantage from her first run, she put on a dominant performance to win the second run. Moritz looks to be an absolute force heading into the NCAA Championships in two weeks. Her teammate, first-year skier Thomas Carnahan, shocked the entire EISA field by winning the men’s Slalom. Carnahan seems to have found his stride late in the season, following up a third-place finish at Williams with a massive victory on his home hill.
Leveraging their home advantage, Middlebury packed skiers into the top 10 across both days of competition. The Panthers tallied the most points in the Women’s GS, the second-most in both the Men’s GS and Men’s Slalom, and the third-highest total in the Women’s Slalom.
Flanagan Takes the Win in Men’s GS
The University of Vermont’s Gray Flanagan exited the EISA circuit with an absolute bang. The senior secured a narrow victory in the GS to claim his first collegiate win. This exclamation mark on a strong year with the Catamounts propelled him to second-place in the GS discipline standings.
Flanagan’s teammate, Cydnie Timmermann, skied to second-place in both the GS and the Slalom. Her performance was just enough to edge out Emma Resnick for the GS discipline title. Finishing a mere 12 points ahead of the Dartmouth skier, Timmermann capped a season that saw her reach the podium eight times. She will undoubtedly be a podium threat in both disciplines at the NCAA Championships.
Armstrong, Kearing Cap Historic Weekend for Harvard
Duncan Armstrong brought Harvard back to the alpine podium steps with a second-place finish in the GS. This marked a career-best result for the Crimson skier and capped a phenomenal GS season that previously featured two fourth-place finishes.
Armstrong wasn’t the only Harvard skier to deliver a standout performance. Sitting multiple spots outside the NCAA qualifying line, senior Luke Kearing needed a phenomenal weekend to advance. He secured the result he needed in his final carnival race, claiming the final men’s qualifying spot with a fifth-place finish in the Slalom. Consequently, Kearing will head to Utah for one final collegiate race.
Four on Podium for Dartmouth Proves Enough
Despite a disappointing outing in the GS, the Dartmouth men bounced back with an excellent performance in Saturday’s Slalom. The squad placed three different skiers in the top four, led by Heming Sola in second. Sola concluded his season with three second-place finishes across four races. His teammate, Oscar Zimmer, who won both the Slalom and GS discipline titles, snagged another podium with a third-place finish.
The Dartmouth women were anchored by Zoe Zimmermann, who captured yet another victory in her final carnival. This win served as the exclamation mark on a stellar Slalom season, during which she won the final four Slalom races. Additionally, Emma Resnick contributed a third-place result in the GS.
UNH and Plymouth State Ski to Podium Finishes
Plymouth State sophomore Alvin Guteland Beiming had not placed higher than 14th this season, but he took the league by storm in Friday’s GS. A blistering second run vaulted him into third-place for the day. This marked his first collegiate podium, as well as Plymouth State's first podium of the season. While Kearing passing him in the Slalom meant this result was just barely not enough to qualify for the NCAAs, it should give the Swede plenty of confidence heading into next year.
The University of New Hampshire’s Benedetta Caloro continued her superb run with another podium finish. Her third-place finish in the Slalom marked her third podium appearance of the season.
Team Scores
A fantastic home carnival left the host Middlebury Panthers in second place, trailing only regional champions Dartmouth. The University of Vermont took third place and tallied the highest point total in the Men’s GS. The University of New Hampshire finished fourth, followed by Colby in fifth.
NCAA Championships
In two weeks, 17 men and 17 women will head to the NCAA Championships. Due to a lack of snow in Montana, the event will be hosted by the defending champions, the University of Utah.
Two Eastern schools qualified a full alpine team of three men and three women. Dartmouth and the University of Vermont will head west hoping to claim a National Championship for the East, a feat not accomplished since the University of Vermont won the title in 2012. Middlebury and the University of New Hampshire will each bring five alpine skiers to Utah. Colby qualified four alpine skiers, including a full women’s team. Harvard and Boston College each qualified two male skiers. Saint Lawrence, Saint Michael’s, and Williams each qualified one skier.