RUMFORD/BETHEL, ME—The Williams ski team slipped to sixth place after the second and final day of the Bates Carnival, just nine points behind fifth place Colby College. The alpine men continued to carry the team with their strong skiing, highlighted by junior Alex Dyroff’s first career podium finish in the men’s slalom race.
The men’s alpine team put three racers in the top 16 to take fourth on the day, the highest team finish for the Ephs. Dyroff ’10 skied to his best career finish with a third place result to lead the men’s team. Not to be outdone, senior Eirik Burrass won the second run of slalom to move up from 28th after the first run to finish in 12th overall. Eric Mann ’09, in a similar position as his classmate after the first run, used his third fastest second run to move up to 16th place. Jim Whitledge ’09, Sean Cummiskey ’12, and Alex Reeves ’11 did not finish. UVM freshman David Donaldson won his second race in as many days.
Kelsey Levine ’10 led the women’s alpine team through a difficult day on the hill. The junior finished 21st, putting together two solid runs to finish as the first Williams woman. After a tough first run, Emily Porter came through with a great second run to move up to 33rd. Freshman Laurel Carter, in 12th place after the first run, had to hike on her second run and settle for 38th place. Amy McLaughlin ’12, Annie Hanson ’11, and Kelly Kirpatrick ’09 all had to hike and finished towards the end of the field. The women’s alpine team finished in eighth place overall. Dartmouth junior Christine Roberts won the race.
Alex Dyroff '10 on his way to third place in the slalom (Lincoln Benedict / hb3.smugmug.com)
The men’s nordic team was led for the second day by freshman Dimitri Luthi in the grueling 20K mass start freestyle race. Luthi, as high as third place mid-race, tangled with a competitor late in the race on a downhill, and finished 11th to lead the men’s team. Alex Taylor ’10 pulled out a career-best race to take 14th place and Keith Kantack ’11 showed his consistency by finishing 20th place to push the men to fifth place as a team. Erik Anderson ’12 and Evan Dethier ’11 made it five in the top 40 with their 32nd and 36th place finishes. Caleb Lucy ’11 took 51st with David Hansen ’11 and Nick Fogel ’12 skiing together for much of the race to take 70th and 71st, respectively. Sophomore Robby Cuthbert finished not far behind in 76th. Dartmouth junior Patrick O’Brien won the race.
“The men’s team is clearly making a lot of progress,” said head nordic coach Bud Fisher. “Alex Taylor had his best race of his career, Keith had probably his best skate race of his career, and two freshmen guys are coming in and scoring points for us.”
The women’s nordic team met a similar fate as their alpine counterparts, finishing in eighth place in the 15K freestyle race. Alice Nelson ’10 led the Williams women once again with her 15th place finish. Senior Fiona Worcester was second for the team with her 29th place finish, with Holly Whitney ’12 close behind in 32nd. Sarah Tory ’11 patiently moved up through the field to take 37th. Senior Liz Kantack and sophomore Gabrielle Joffe closed out the racing for the Ephs with their 51st and 55th place finishes. Lucy Garrec, a freshman from Colby, took top honors in the race.
“Eighth place for us today shows the depth of the field,” said Fisher. “We didn’t ski great, but the competition is stiff. If you’re not on, it hurts and you can easily slip to somewhere like eighth if you’re not ready.”
The Ephs will head north again next weekend to compete at the UNH Carnival at Attitash/Bear Peak in Bartlett, NH and at Jackson XC in Jackson, NH.
