By: Caleb Horsch
The University of New Hampshire carnival continued Saturday with the GS portion. Winter weather returned to the east with cold temps and lots of wind present to start the day. Difficult sets, particularly on the women's side, eliminated a good chunk of the field. The long Burke slalom hill had combined times of over two minutes for the whole women's field and one minute fifty seconds for the men.
A Norwegian trio of skiers dominated the men's first run Mathias Tefre was dominant on the circuit in Slalom last year but was injured for the Bates carnival led the pack. Second on the run was his teammate and the winner of yesterday's GS, Joachim Jagge Lindstoel. He was followed closely by German Maximilian Haussmann from Plymouth State. Fourth place was held by Lindstoel and Tefres countryman Eirik Kveno from Saint Michael's, who placed third a week earlier.
A difficult hill was not enough of a challenge in the view of Dartmouth coach John Dwyer who set a 'turny' and 'grindy' course that challenged the entire field. The bottom section, in particular, proved too much for many racers whose tired legs could not keep up with the 70+ big turns and rhythm changes. Still, as all racers know, someone has got to win the race, and a few managed to tame the beast.
Allie Resnick showed her solid fundamental skiing laying down an impressive first run that put her .77 clear of Justine Clement and over a second ahead of Caroline Jones, both of the University of Vermont. A large amount of DNFs opened the door for skiers in the back of the start order who had the opportunity to move up for the second run. Four girls with bibs above 50 got in the flip 30, taming the beast that was the first run set.
Allie Resnick (Dartmouth) - Stephen R Cloutier
The men got a simple, straightforward set for their second run, and those with hopes at the podium would have to charge top to bottom to achieve their ambitions. Oliver Morgan from Dartmouth skied a fantastic second run, and it looked as if he might have a shot at taking the victory. Morgan saw off challenges from Haussmann and Kveno, assuring himself a place on the podium. However, UVMs Tefre and Lindstoel found another gear delivering fantastic runs to go 1-2.
Oliver Morgan (Dartmouth) - Stephen R Cloutier
The second run set for the women was a full nine seconds faster for most of the field, forcing considerable tactical adjustments from the first run. A crash from Clement near the bottom of the course eliminated her hopes at the podium. Resnick saw off her competition to take her third win of the young season. Moa Clementson and Jones rounded out the podium as the Catamounts added two more top 3 performances.
After her run, Resnick commented, "the first course was crazy turny, and the second course was pretty straight, so it was a mix of everything." Her result landed Dartmouth third on the weekend, with the women's team winning both days of racing. Resnick added, "I am super happy with how I skied, and the Dartmouth team overall had a great weekend."
In the final carnival standings, it wasn't even close; UVM walloped the entire field, boosted by strong days from their men's team to win by nearly 150 points. Second place went to Middlebury, with Dartmouth rounding out the podium, followed by hosts UNH and Colby.
The University of Vermont Team - Stephen R Cloutier
Racing continues with the postponed Saint Michael's carnival at Smugglers Notch. A cold forecast will greet racers, but snow should be fantastic.