RUMFORD/BETHEL, ME—The alpine and nordic ski teams combined to place fourth in day one of the Bates Carnival. On the strength of the men’s alpine team who placed third overall, the team sits 57 points behind third place Middlebury College.
The Williams women’s and men’s nordic team each notched fifth place finishes in the five and ten kilometer individual start classic races at the Bates Carnival. With warmer temperatures than expected, the men’s team opened the morning with two freshmen leading the way. Times were tight with mere seconds separating half a dozen places.
Dimitri Luthi ’12 captured eighth place—the first top ten result for the men’s team since the 2006 season—with Erik Anderson ’12 taking 20th place in a field of nearly 100 racers. With only the top three results combining to create the team score, sophomore Keith Kantack completed the team scoring with his 22nd place finish. The race winner was UVM senior Jerguen Uhl, who cruised to an 18-second victory.
The men managed to get six athletes in the top 35, a huge improvement from last year, with Evan Dethier ’11 in 28th, just eight seconds back from Kantack, senior Sam Kapala in 34th and junior Alex Taylor taking 35th. Sophomore Robby Cuthbert had a career-best carnival race, cruising to 55th place, with Caleb Lucy ’11 crossing the line in 59th. David Hansen ’11 and Nick Fogel ’12 completed the racing for the Ephs with their 76th and 79th place finishes, respectively.
Kapala, the team captain, was pleased with the performance of the men’s team today, but confident that stronger results are in the team’s future. “We’re very excited to see someone crack the top ten and we felt we held our own in a competitive field,” said Kapala. “But more importantly, we know we can do better and improve on our racing today. Fifth is a good start, but we’re looking for more than that.”
The women’s team placed three in the top twenty of the 5K classic race to open their season. Junior Alice Nelson and sophomore Kirsten Johnson picked up where they left off last season—leading the women’s nordic team with their consistent top-15 results. Nelson skied to a tenth place finish, with Johnson ten seconds back in 14th place. Separated by less than two seconds, seniors Liz Kantack and Fiona Worcester placed 20th and 21st, respectively. Dartmouth sophomore Ida Sargent skied a strong race to take the win.
In their first carnival, freshman Holly Whitney and sophomore Sarah Tory took 39th and 50th place respectively to finish out the top six for the Ephs. Just seven seconds back, Gabrielle Joffe ’11 placed 56th, with sophomore Maddy Wendt in 60th and senior Emily Olsen in 68th. The Ephs were without freshmen Hannah Hausman and sophomore Amy Nolan who are recovering from injury and illness. The pair will look to rejoin the lineup as soon as they are well.
“These races went by quickly today,” said Kantack, the women’s team captain. “I think the women expected the race to be tightly packed, and it was. Ten seconds faster could have been five or ten places faster for many people on our team. This race was a good start for us, but I think everyone knows we’ve got a little more in the tank for future races.”
“The competition is so strong this year,” said assistant nordic coach Aubrey Smith. “We’re a solid fifth right now, but the effort and the individual results are greatly improved from last year.”
The men’s alpine team packed three into the top 17 to place third behind UNH and UVM in the giant slalom at Sunday River. Senior Eric Mann led the way with a sixth place finish, the best result for Williams today, just three-tenths of a second off the podium. Junior Alex Dyroff, sitting 11th after the first run, moved into the top ten with a strong second run to take 9th place. Sophomore Alex Reeves had a solid race for the Ephs, nailing down the third and final scoring position, good enough for 17th overall.
The men’s alpine team showed their depth by packing five skiers into the top 30. Freshmen Sean Cummiskey made his debut for Williams with a 25th place finish and captain Jim Whitledge ‘09 opened the season with a 29th place effort, tied with a skier from Middlebury. Senior Eirik Burrass used his 25th-best second run to move up to 45th after a difficult first run left him near the back of the field. Freshman David Donaldson of the University of Vermont captured the first carnival of the season, winning the first and second run on his way to victory.
“Overall, to finish third in the first race of the year is pretty awesome,” said Whitledge. “We’re pretty happy with the result and we’re really looking forward to the slalom tomorrow.”
The alpine women put four in the top 20 on their way to a fifth place finish, led by junior Kelsey Levine. Levine opened the season with a promising 11th place finish, putting together two consistent runs to finish well.
Junior Emily Porter, senior captain Kelly Kirpatrick, and freshman Laurel Carter packed a tight bunch of Williams racers into the top twenty by finishing 16th, 17th, and 19th, respectively. After just finishing inside the top 30 after the first run, all three women pulled out spectacular second runs to move into the top 20 and strengthen the team score. Amy McLaughlin ’12 placed 34th overall, and sophomore Annie Hanson, in 40th after the first run, didn’t finish her second run. Courtney Hammond of Dartmouth won the race.
“We’re really excited for the rest of the season,” said Kirkpatrick. “We’ve been training really well and this is a little peek at what we can do later in the season.”
The Ephs will continue racing tomorrow morning
with the 15 and 20K mass start races at Black Mountain and the
slalom at Sunday River.
