Dartmouth leads after Day 1 in Eastern regionals

LEWISTON, Maine—Dartmouth College won three events on Day One at the Bates Winter Carnival, Feb. 22, to take a slim lead over the University of Vermont, 448 points to 438.5. Middlebury College was in third place with 382 points after the first day of nordic racing at Black Mountain and alpine competition at Sunday River, with the University of New Hampshire in fourth and Williams College in fifth.

The final Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association event of the year, this season’s Bates Carnival also serves as the NCAA Eastern regional championships. Middlebury College hosts the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships March 6-9 at the Rikert Nordic Center and Middlebury College Snow Bowl.

On a bluebird day at Sunday River, Middlebury’s David Donaldson was flying high again in the men’s giant slalom, after losing his first GS of the season last week at the Middlebury Snow Bowl. Donaldson finished with a two-run time of 2:32.93, more than a second ahead of runner-up Sean Higgins from UVM (2:34.18). UVM’s Travis Dawson was third (2:34.77), and Taylor Vest-Burton and Sam Coffey from UNH were in fourth and fifth (2:35.3, 2:35.41). In the team standings, UVM edged Middlebury 117 points to 115, with UNH third with 105.

In the women’s GS at Sunday River, Harvard’s Rebecca Nadler and UVM’s Kate Ryley finished in a dead-heat, with two run times of 2:38.45;Ryley won the first run by 0.04, and Nadler the second, by the same margin. Williams College’s Geordie Lonza continued her late-season surge with a third-place finish (2:39.84). Abigail Fucigna of Dartmouth was fourth (2:39.96) and Bates College’s Avril Dunleavy led the host school in fifth (2:40.66). Dartmouth captured the team event with 104 points to 94 for Williams (which had Annie Leiter joining Lonza in the top 10) and 92.5 for UVM.

On a sunny and warm day at Black Mountain that had nordic racers rolling up their sleeves, Dartmouth’s Mary O’Connell won the 5km classic race in a duel with Middlebury’s Annie Pokorny. The final margin was less than two seconds, with O’Connell finishing in 15:04.1, and Pokorny in 15:05.8. Dartmouth’s Emily Blackmer was third in 15:26.1, Anja Gruber of UVM fourth in 15:27.7, and Dartmouth’s Annie Hart fifth (15:30.5). With three racers in the top five, Dartmouth won the event, piling up 133 points to 109 for UVM and 104 for Middlebury.

Scott Patterson of UVM bested classic points leader Sam Tarling of Dartmouth in the men’s 10km classic, finishing two seconds in front, 27:19.8 to 27:21.8. Middlebury’s Benjamin Lustgarten was third 27:27.1, and Dartmouth’s David Sinclair and Silas Talbot were fourth and fifth, respectively (27:30.8 and 27:35.8). Dartmouth took the team event, with 127 points to 120 for UVM and 91 for Williams.

The Bates Carnival concludes Feb. 23 with men’s and women’s slalom at Sunday River, and the men’s 15km freestyle mass start and women’s 10km freestyle mass start at Black Mountain.

EISA SKIING
Bates Winter Carnival/NCAA Eastern Regionals
Team Scores, 02/22/13

1. Dartmouth College, 448.0
2. University of Vermont, 438.5
3. Middlebury College, 382.0
4. University of New Hampshire, 354.0
5. Williams College, 288.0
6. Bates College, 249.0
7. Colby College, 248.0
8. St. Lawrence University, 185.0
9. Harvard University, 181.5
10. St. Michael’s College, 146.0
11. Boston College, 79.0
12. Bowdoin College, 69.0
13. University of Maine-Presque Isle, 67.0
14. Plymouth State University, 60.0
15. Colby-Sawyer College, 28.0
16. Clarkson University, 9.0