March 09, 2011 (Stowe, VT) – It was a home sweet home day for eastern skier Sam Tarling of Dartmouth College as he took first in the Men’s 10km free technique race on day one of the NCAA Championships held at Trapp Family Lodge, edging out two skiers from out west.

The University of Colorado’s (CU) Vegard Kjoelhamar placed second while Miles Havlick from the University of Utah took third on Wednesday. Tarling finished the race in 26:05.7 with Kjoelhamar not far behind in 26:10.3 and Havlick coming in 1.5s later in 26:11.8.

In the women’s 5km freestyle race a jubilant Maria Graefnings of the University of Utah took first with a time of 13:51.9 besting two skiers from CU, Eliska Hajkova in second  (14:01.7) and Joanne Reid in third (14:32.0).

This week’s D1 NCAA competition is the equivalent of the “final four” in collegiate skiing. The University of Vermont in conjunction with Stowe Mountain Resort & Trapp Family Lodge have been past hosts to six NCAA Skiing Championships, most recently in 2005.

With day one of four of the Championships completed without a hitch – in amazingly sunny weather to boot – the University of Colorado holds first place overall between the freestyle cross-country and GS alpine events.

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