February 22, 2009 (Ripton, VT) – The first day of the Middlebury Carnival dawned bright and beautiful with diffused sunlight filtering through trees draped in new fallen snow. Yet the foot and a half of new fallen powder proved too much for the alpine course, pushing the start time back to eleven as the course was cleared of the new fluff. The new snow also placed a burden on the Rikert touring center’s poor old Pistenbully which refused to start, pushing the Nordic start back by an hour.

Once the races started, Dartmouth powered to an overall lead of 449 points. Yet the margin was slim as the University of Vermont, hungry for that illusive win, snuck in only four points behind with 445 points. The third place finisher was host Middlebury with 378 points.

On the rolling hills of the Rikert Touring center, groomed with a snowcat generously lent by Tony Clark at the last minute, Dartmouth took the top two spots in the Women’s 10k mass start classic race with Rosie Brennan posting a commanding winning time of 31:09.2. Next up for the Big Green was last weekend’s dual champion, Sophie Caldwell clocking a 31:34.8. Finishing up the top three was a breakout performance by Bates’ Natalie Ruppertsburger with a 31:45.2.

For the Men’s 10k classic mass start the University of Vermont’s Franz Berstein took top honors with a time of 26:35.8. Following close behind was fellow Catamount and German countryman Juergen Uhl, posting a time of 26:38.3 for second place. Dartmouth’s Glenn Randall clocked a 26:40.9 for a third place finish.

On the steeps of the Middlebury Snow Bowl the Catamounts claimed both individual wins in the Slalom. For the women Megan Ryley took top honors with a time of 1:37.69 while Dartmouth’s Courtney Hammond took second place with a time of 1:37.79. Catamount Jilyne McDonald took third place 1:37.89.

For the Men the University of Vermont’s David Donaldson was the man of the day laying down a 1:32.48 for first place followed by the University of New Hampshire’s Sean McNamara 1:32.56. Middlebury’s Andrew Wagner rounded out the podium with a 1:32.83 for third place.

Day 2

Dartmouth won, but by their slimmest margin yet, a mere fifteen points over runner up University of Vermont. Dartmouth’s total was 881 points with the University of Vermont following with a total of 866 points. Home team Middlebury took third with a not-so-distant 834 points.

In the Nordic events Dartmouth took the women’s 3×5 Freestyle Relay with a win by the team of Brennan, Sargent and Caldwell for a total of 49:37.7. Behind was the University of Vermont’s squad of Bender, Mayerhoffer, and Patterson with a time of 50:31.0 for second place. Third place went to the University of New Hampshire team of Wright, Cool, and Miller with their total time of 50:59.2.

On the Men’s side Middlebury pulled a dramatic upset of the Dartmouth squad with Reynolds, Johnson, and Hamilton leading the Panthers to finish first in 41:22.4. Following close behind was True, O’Brien and Koons for Dartmouth whose efforts garnered second with a time of 41:25.3. Williams’ Men put in a very strong showing with a third place from Taylor, Kapala, and Kantack in a time of 42:33.9.

Over at the Snow Bowl the Giant Slalom produced some new winners for both the men and women. Eric Mann, a consistent performer who had yet to get a win this season, finally pushed in a victory for the men with a total time of 2:02.12 despite having lost a tooth in a nasty crash yesterday. Flying into second was the University of Vermont’s Marsh Gooding with a total time of 2:02.34 followed by the University of New Hampshire’s Sean McNamara who took third place with a total time of 2:02.60.

On the women’s side Middlebury’s Leah McLaughry was able to give home fans a taste of Alpine victory after laying down winning time of 2:06.98. Following was Dartmouth’s Kelsey Roddick with a time of 2:07.37 chased by another Middlebury skier, Mattie Ford, who took third place with a time of 2:08.04.

Overall the Middlebury Carnival was one of the most exciting carnivals this season. With one standout performance from any of the top three colleges, the leader board could have been re-arranged. Join us next weekend as the east has one last chance to take a crack at the Dartmouth winning streak before the titans of the West journey eastward for NCAA’s.
For more results, images, and videos please go to www.eisaskiing.org