January 21, 2013 (Lake Placid, NY) – The New Hampshire Wildcats registered a monumental team victory in the women’s 15k freestyle race at Mt. Van Hoevenbeurg on the first day of the St. Lawrence Carnival. Anya Bean, Annika Taylor, and Elizabeth Izzo swept positions 2-4 to produce the best Nordic result for their school in recent history. Vermont holds the team lead by 97 points over Dartmouth heading into the second day of competition, but the first day of racing produced some surprise results across the board.

New Hampshire’s head Nordic coach Cory Schwartz remarked, “Our women’s team is very deep this year. For this weekend we were missing one of our top women—as was Dartmouth and Middlebury—so we know each weekend there will be a fight among the teams. I am very proud of how the team performed, as I think this might one of the best finishes during my tenure.”

Anja Gruber, the Vermont Catamount who regularly placed as the fourth team skier last season, finally got her day—albeit a cold one—in the spotlight. Both Gruber and teammate Scott Patterson, whose 2012 season was plagued by injury and illness, took home the Nordic wins for the Cats despite subzero morning temperatures.

“I think in the end the cold didn’t matter that much because it was the same for everyone, and the conditions and the course were really great,” said Gruber. “We’ve trained really well all year, so all you can do is warm up well and dress warm enough and ski your best.”

Nordic powerhouse Dartmouth College rounded out the men’s 20k freestyle podium with Silas Talbot and Scott Lacy placing second and third, respectively.

In alpine giant slalom action, Vermont swept the women’s podium following the lead of Kate Ryley. Kristina Riis-Johannessen was second and Elli Terwiel, fresh off a 17th-place finish in the Flachau World Cup slalom, finished third. The first non-Cat in the points was the ever-familiar defending NCAA champion Rebecca Nadler of Harvard University.

David Donaldson of Middlebury College continued his giant slalom winning streak, besting Vermont’s Jonathan Nordbotten, a regular on the World Cup circuit, by over a second. Donaldson’s Panther teammate, Andrew McNealus finished third.

Team scores at the completion of Day 1 of the St. Lawrence Carnival:
1. UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT – 508.0
2. DARTMOUTH COLLEGE – 411.0
3. UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE – 364.0
4. MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE – 353.0
5. BATES COLLEGE – 269.0
6. COLBY COLLEGE – 228.5
7. ST LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY – 219.5
8. WILLIAMS COLLEGE – 200.0
9. HARVARD UNIVERSITY – 174.0
10. BOWDOIN COLLEGE – 123.0
11. UNIVERSITE’ LAVAL – 93.0
12. ST MICHAELS COLLEGE – 92.0
13. PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY – 82.0
14. BOSTON COLLEGE – 48.0
15. COLBY SAWYER COLLEGE – 42.0
16. UNIVERSITY OF ME -PRESQUE ISLE – 39.0

February 06, 2012 (Stowe, VT)  – Dartmouth College all but locked up the overall win at the UVM Carnival on Day 2 (Sat., Feb. 4) with a plethora of top-10 results across all disciplines at both Stowe Mountain Resort and the Trapp Family Lodge. The Big Green leads with 675 points, UNH is second with 558.5 and Middlebury sits third with 538. Vermont, competing with a shortened alpine roster, is fourth with 493 points, but team position changes beyond the win are expected tomorrow when the carnival concludes with the freestyle Nordic races.

In the women’s 5k classic at the Trapp Family Lodge, Dartmouth’s Sophie Caldwell took the win and her teammate Annie Hart was third. Caitlin Patterson of UVM squeezed between them for second. The third scoring skier for Dartmouth was Erika flowers in seventh, ensuring the team win. Middlebury Panther Patrick Johnson secured his second victory of the season today in the men’s 10k classic. Dartmouth’s Sam Tarling was second and UVM’s Franz Bernstein was third. Big Green skiers Eric Packer and Gordon Vermeer added critical team points in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Day 3
It was a picturesque bluebird day at the Trapp Family Lodge Sunday (Feb. 5) where Dartmouth claimed the overall win at the UVM Carnival with 916 points. On an impressive Nordic performance, Vermont rebounded from fourth place the previous day to finish in second with 735 points. Middlebury was a scant six points behind in third.

Vermont’s Caitlin Patterson, whose last win came in the opening freestyle race at the Bates Carnival, grew weary of numerous second place finishes since and skated to victory in the UVM Carnival women’s 10k freestyle race. “Sophie’s [Caldwell] had the past three wins, so I wanted to come back with a reply. When I got here I was extremely excited just to ski, let alone race, because of the great atmosphere and our team energy.” Caldwell of Dartmouth was second, her teammate Erika Flowers was third, and Catamount Lucy Garrec was fourth. The UVM women’s positive energy enabled them to best the Big Green in team scoring for the race.

Middlebury’s Patrick Johnson, the story of the weekend, skated to his second win of the carnival by a noteworthy forty-two second margin over Dartmouth’s Sam Tarling. Johnson noted, “Every race right now, I feel like I have a good chance to win. This course has a long uphill finish, and I was definitely really tired at that point which means I was able to put everything out there.” His fellow scoring Panthers finished eighth and eleventh. Franz Bernstein of UVM was third and his teammate Alexander Howe was fourth.

Final team scores at the conclusion of the UVM Carnival:
1. Dartmouth College – 916
2. University of Vermont – 735
3. Middlebury College – 729
4. University of New Hampshire – 698
5. Bates College – 534
6. Williams College – 512
7. Colby College – 576
8. St. Lawrence University – 441
9. Harvard University – 357
10. St. Michael’s College – 300
11. Plymouth State University – 213
12. Bowdoin College – 137.5
13. Boston College – 111.5
14. Colby-Sawyer College – 106
15. University of Maine Presque Isle – 72

January 14, 2011 (Lake Placid, NY) – It was a busy day at the Mackenzie Interval Ski Jumping Complex with over 400 skiers competing in three events, headlined by the third stop of USSA SuperTour series. Both fields raced around a challenging 2-kilometer loop with a consistent 1-kilometer climb from the base of the Olympic ski jumps almost to the take-off. The men completed five laps for 10km classic style racing and the women contested three loops for 6km. The weather wasn’t too much of a factor for this classic race, with overcast skies, calm wind, and temperatures in the mid-teens

The SuperTour points leaders in both fields – Alaska’s Lars Flora and Holly Brooks – both won their races maintaining APU’s dominance on the trails. Flora finished 11 seconds ahead of US Ski Team member, Noah Hoffman from Aspen, Colorado, his teammate for the World Championships in Oslo, Norway this coming February. Rounding out the men’s podium was Scott Patterson, a University of Vermont skier, who claimed the SLU Carnival college division victory as the race was hosted by St. Lawrence University.

Brooks led an APU podium sweep in the women’s race as her teammate Kate Fitzgerald claimed 2nd and Morgan Smyth grabbed third. Brooks is another top level skier that will be racing at Worlds in Olso. Just off the podium for the women was Caitlin Patterson, skiing for UVM, who matched her brother’s win in the college race of the season. Both Patterson’s will be racing for the USA in Oteppa, Estonia at the end of January – Scott in Junior Worlds and Caitlin in U23 Worlds.

It was a great day for skiers of all experience levels to compete with some of the best athletes in the country. College racers were  on course with the top open athletes from the SuperTour rankings, and juniors and masters skiers competing in the Harry Eldridge Memorial race also got to rub shoulders with the nation’s best. Despite all the abuse, the tracks stayed strong throughout the event.

Full women’s results HERE.
Full men’s results HERE.