UVM off to a Garand start in home Carnival

Career-first win for Vermont’s Dom Garand (C.J. Feehan)

STOWE, Vt. — Canadians Dom Garand and Kate Ryley led the University of Vermont Catamounts to an early lead in their home Carnival after claiming wins in their respective giant slalom races on Friday (Jan. 10) down their ‘Main Street’ training hill at Stowe Mountain Resort.

For Garand, who has never even podiumed before in an NCAA race, the victory marked a sweet start to the season. The former Canadian World Junior Championships competitor left the national prospect team with an injury and started on the Vermont roster just last season, where his best result had been fifth.

“Honestly, I’m just psyched because a lot of my teammates are hurt, so this was kind of for them. Bobby Farrell’s injured again, and he’s crucial to our team, and even everyone else has little nagging injuries,” noted Garand. “This home Carnival, I really wanted to bring home the W.”

And win Garand did, besting his former Burke Mountain Academy classmate Robin “Raz” Overing, another Canadian, of Dartmouth College by almost a full second. It was sophomore Overing’s first step on the EISA podium as well.

“This is my first podium since second-year FIS Devo,” said a pleased Overing. “I’ve been skiing fast GS (in training), but we’re historically a better slalom team, so I didn’t know how it would turn out against other people. I had a rough start of the season at NorAms, didn’t finish a first run, so I’m pretty psyched to get this good result in the bag.”

EISA podium regular Travis Dawson finished third and teammate Kevin Drury, back after a season competing independently, managed an eighth-place result despite racing with a broken thumb and only one pole to give the Cats the team victory with 127 points in the men’s race. Dartmouth followed closely with freshman Dylan Brooks of Sugar Bowl Academy seventh and Ben Morse ninth to take second in men’s team scoring, while first-year Chris McKenna of Middlebury wasted no time leaving an immediate mark on the circuit with a top-5 result on the day.

New Hampshire’s Charlie Kidd, who’s been sidelined with a serious injury since February 2012, returned in strong form to the EISA and moved from bib 91 into 17th. Behind Jay Ogle in fourth and Geoffrey Bonewald in 10th, Kidd was the third scoring Wildcat in the race, proving that he still has the speed to make an impact in his senior year.

After a failed effort to set two separate courses down the hill, the ladies were ultimately forced to ski the same course as the men given width limitations. Multi-time All-American Kate Ryley of UVM laid down the fastest time on both courses to edge out 2012 NCAA giant slalom champion Becca Nadler of Harvard. Dartmouth’s Lizzie Kistler rounded out the podium in third.

“It’s still funny to me, I guess, that I’m rivals with (Kate) because I don’t have any bad feelings toward her. But in terms of skiing, it’s really fun competing with her because she’s such a great skier,” remarked Nadler. “For me to be close, and be 1-2, is really fun for me, so I guess it’s fitting.”

It was a close race for the lady Catamounts who only have five skiers on the roster this year. After junior Kristina Riis-Johannessen and freshman Brittany Lathrop failed to complete the first run, the pressure was on Ryley, Elise Tefre, and newcomer Celine Rytz to finish the second.

“We just told our freshmen to ski well and fast, but ski smart. Don’t just go for it and go straight,” said the veteran Ryley. “Have a plan, and then execute.”

Vermont (107) narrowly edged out Dartmouth (106) in women’s team scoring by a single point as Tefre finished sixth and Rytz was a respectable 21st in her inaugural collegiate race. The Big Green’s Anne Strong and Sara Kikut finished eighth and 11th, respectively, to add to Kistler’s points haul. Also noteworthy was Colby-Sawyer College’s women’s team who finished eighth — ahead of both Williams and St. Lawrence — on the strength of sophomore Rainie Hill and freshman Morganne Murphy’s top-25 results.

The night before the giant slalom even began, a van mix-up in the parking lot of the Stowe Motel nearly led to the summoning of the local authorities when a Boston College coach mistakenly drove off in a Burke Mountain Academy vehicle, only realizing the error upon returning to the establishment and a rather disgruntled Kraig Sourbeer.

Car troubles continued on the morning of the scheduled slalom races, as overnight freezing rain halted traffic on Interstate 89, blockading the UVM and Saint Michael’s College teams from getting to the mountain. After spending upwards of three hours in vans on the highway, the teams were finally able to turn around and head back to their campuses in Burlington and Winooski. The slalom races were cancelled but will be rescheduled later in the season.

Women’s GS Results

PL BIB COMPETITOR 1st 2nd Total Time POINTS (RACE/TEAM/NCAA)
1 3 RYLEY, Kate UVM ASW 1:01.32 1:01.39 2:02.71 0.00 50.0 100
2 6 NADLER, Rebecca HAR ASW 1:01.74 1:01.77 2:03.51 5.80 47.0 80
3 4 KISTLER, Lizzie DAR ASW 1:02.78 1:02.35 2:05.13 17.55 44.0 60
4 8 MOE-LANGE, Yina MID ASW 1:02.02 1:03.61 2:05.63 21.18 41.0 50
5 23 CAMPBELL, Shannon WIL ASW 1:02.70 1:03.59 2:06.29 25.97 39.0 45
6 11 TEFRE, Elise-woien UVM ASW 1:03.17 1:03.67 2:06.84 29.95 37.0 40
7 33 ROZINOWICZ, Laura UNH ASW 1:03.74 1:03.76 2:07.50 34.74 35.0 36
8 31 STRONG, Anne DAR ASW 1:03.25 1:04.26 2:07.51 34.81 33.0 32
9 13 HAYES, Emily BAT ASW 1:03.69 1:04.07 2:07.76 36.63 31.0 29
10 20 KLEIN, Morgan UNH ASW 1:03.20 1:04.57 2:07.77 36.70 30.0 26
11 16 KIKUT, Sara DAR ASW 1:04.25 1:04.04 2:08.29 40.47 29.0 24
12 15 DUNLEAVY, Avril BAT ASW 1:04.26 1:04.30 2:08.56 42.43 28.0 22
13 27 BARTHOLD, Jeanne CBC ASW 1:03.62 1:04.99 2:08.61 42.79 27.0 20
14 36 IDE, Maisie DAR ASW 1:04.46 1:04.47 2:08.93 45.11 18
15 12 HASKELL, Mardene CBC ASW 1:04.91 1:04.04 2:08.95 45.26 26.0 16
16 53 GILBERT, Elle MID ASW 1:05.16 1:04.37 2:09.53 49.46 25.0 15
17 34 LEMGART, Charlotte PSU ASW 1:05.12 1:04.91 2:10.03 53.09 24.0 14
18 32 ENDERS, Destrey CBC ASW 1:05.08 1:05.22 2:10.30 55.05 23.0 13
19 1 KANTOR, Jenna UNH ASW 1:04.96 1:05.37 2:10.33 55.27 22.0 12
20 45 CORDINGLEY, Nicole SMC ASW 1:04.59 1:06.17 2:10.76 58.39 21.0 11
21 37 RYTZ, Celine UVM ASW 1:05.83 1:05.02 2:10.85 59.04 20.0 10
22 25 CHENOWETH, Kelsey BAT ASW 1:04.91 1:06.09 2:11.00 60.13 19.0 9
23 24 GUILMINEAU, Celine UNH ASW 1:05.12 1:05.95 2:11.07 60.63 8
24 67 HILL, Rainie CSC ASW 1:06.56 1:04.82 2:11.38 62.88 18.0 7
25 44 MURPHY, Morganne CSC ASW 1:05.90 1:05.80 2:11.70 65.20 17.0 6
26 9 BARCLAY, Katelyn MID ASW 1:05.97 1:05.74 2:11.71 65.28 16.0 5
27 26 ZIEBELL, Brittney CBC ASW 1:06.27 1:05.74 2:12.01 67.45 4
28 30 ROCKWELL, Anne BAT ASW 1:06.32 1:06.53 2:12.85 73.54 3
29 21 FITZPATRICK, Katie BAT ASW 1:06.53 1:06.66 2:13.19 76.01 2
30 50 STRONG, Elizabeth HAR ASW 1:06.69 1:06.52 2:13.21 76.16 15.0 1

Men’s GS Results

PL BIB COMPETITOR 1st 2nd Total Time POINTS (RACE/TEAM/NCAA)
1 3 GARAND, Dominique UVM ASM 59.34 59.54 1:58.88 0.00 50.0 100
2 17 OVERING, Robert DAR ASM 59.95 59.78 1:59.73 6.36 47.0 80
3 6 DAWSON, Travis UVM ASM 59.76 1:00.56 2:00.32 10.78 44.0 60
4 22 OGLE, Jay UNH ASM 1:00.30 1:00.47 2:00.77 14.15 41.0 50
5 9 MCKENNA, Christopher MID ASM 1:00.45 1:00.81 2:01.26 17.82 39.0 45
6 26 MARTIN, Max PSU ASM 1:00.86 1:00.64 2:01.50 19.61 37.0 40
7 32 BROOKS, Dylan DAR ASM 1:00.99 1:00.94 2:01.93 22.83 35.0 36
8 16 DRURY, Kevin UVM ASM 1:00.17 1:01.88 2:02.05 23.73 33.0 32
9 13 MORSE, Ben DAR ASM 1:00.92 1:01.42 2:02.34 25.90 31.0 29
10 25 BONEWALD, Geoffrey UNH ASM 1:01.48 1:01.35 2:02.83 29.57 30.0 26
11 39 FISHER MCCARNEY, Dylan DAR ASM 1:01.74 1:01.20 2:02.94 30.40 24
12 19 DEFLAVIO, Ben SLU ASM 1:01.28 1:01.72 2:03.00 30.84 29.0 22
13 21 WUNSCH, Taylor UVM ASM 1:00.66 1:02.35 2:03.01 30.92 20
14 14 RYAN, Chase BC ASM 1:01.11 1:02.19 2:03.30 33.09 28.0 18
15 58 MCKENNA, Matthew CBC ASM 1:02.16 1:01.22 2:03.38 33.69 27.0 16
16 28 BAILEY, Nick MID ASM 1:02.50 1:01.12 2:03.62 35.49 26.0 15
17 91 KIDD, Charlie UNH ASM 1:01.89 1:01.80 2:03.69 36.01 25.0 14
18 2 COFFEY, Sam UNH ASM 1:01.93 1:02.04 2:03.97 38.11 13
19 23 SCOTT, Graham SLU ASM 1:02.22 1:01.92 2:04.14 39.38 24.0 12
20 56 WILSON, Kenny CSC ASM 1:01.76 1:02.45 2:04.21 39.90 23.0 11
21 35 MARSHALL, Craig CBC ASM 1:02.27 1:02.02 2:04.29 40.50 22.0 10
22 66 BERTRAND, Mathieu DAR ASM 1:02.33 1:02.45 2:04.78 44.17 9
23 67 BARNEY, Ryan BC ASM 1:02.19 1:02.60 2:04.79 44.25 21.0 8
24 81 THOMAS, Dylan WIL ASM 1:03.53 1:01.49 2:05.02 45.97 20.0 7
25 73 MAJOR, Victor WIL ASM 1:02.20 1:02.84 2:05.04 46.12 19.0 6
26 11 RYAN, Jim CBC ASM 1:00.80 1:04.27 2:05.07 46.34 18.0 5
27 49 BRADBURY, Christopher BAT ASM 1:02.20 1:03.16 2:05.36 48.51 17.0 4
28 52 DAVIES, Davies WIL ASM 1:02.87 1:02.69 2:05.56 50.01 16.0 3
29 18 MULHERN, Liam MID ASM 1:02.35 1:03.32 2:05.67 50.83 15.0 2
30 29 SANDELL, Fredrik SMC ASM 1:02.39 1:03.65 2:06.04 53.60 14.0 1

UVM Carnival team scoring (at the completion of the GS races)

1. UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT UVM 234.0
2. DARTMOUTH COLLEGE DAR 219.0
3. UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE UNH 183.0
4. MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE MID 162.0
5. COLBY COLLEGE CBC 143.0
6. BOSTON COLLEGE BC 98.0
7. WILLIAMS COLLEGE WIL 97.0
8. BATES COLLEGE BAT 95.0
9. ST LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY SLU 82.0
10. PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY PSU 81.0
10. COLBY SAWYER COLLEGE CSC 81.0
12. HARVARD UNIVERSITY HAR 80.0
13. ST MICHAELS COLLEGE SMC 76.0