STOWE, VT – In the midst of extreme weather and difficult waxing conditions, the Williams ski team remained in fifth place in the third day of the UVM Carnival. Rapidly changing weather—rain to sleet to thunder to snow to sunshine—made for the most unusual racing conditions that many had ever competed in, but the men’s nordic team capitalized on a challenging situation and emerged with a third place finish.
Freshman Dimitri Luthi captured a historic third place finish in the 15K classic race, and the first podium result for the men’s team since the 2001 season. Luthi was in good company on the podium with two senior All-American athletes, winner Juergen Uhl of UVM and second-place Ben True of Dartmouth. Not to be outdone, senior captain Sam Kapala matched his pervious career-best from last weekend’s sprint at the UNH Carnival by taking 12th place, moving up through the field with an impressive last lap to finish, less than 20 seconds out of the top ten. Sophomore Keith Kantack finished up with a 17th place result, his best classic race of the season, to close out the scoring for the Ephs.
Impressive was the depth of the men’s lineup with all six carnival racers finishing inside the top thirty. Sophomore Evan Dethier and junior Alex Taylor finished seven seconds apart in 22nd and 23rd place respectively, with Caleb Lucy ’11 following up in 30th place. Robby Cuthbert ’11 and Nick Fogel ’12 finished up in the NENSA Eastern Cup/SuperTour race with times that would have placed them 51st and 53rd in the competitive collegiate race.
The women faced the worst of the weather in the morning 10K classic race and fought for a seventh place finish as a group. Senior Fiona Worcester led th e women’s team with her best result of the season, placing 20th overall. Kirsten Johnson ’11 followed up with a 22nd place, with senior Liz Kantack crossing the line in 28th place to put three Ephs in the top thirty. Alice Nelson ’10, Holly Whitney ’12, and Maddy Wendt ’11 each came through with 35th, 45th, and 48th place finishes to finish the racing for Williams. Senior Emily Olsen and sophomore Gabrielle Joffe competed in the Easten Cup/SuperTour and raced to what would have been 44th and 47th place finishes in the collegiate race. UVM freshman Caitlin Patterson won her second race in as many days in front of the home crowd.
The Ephs finished in fifth place for the second consecutive week and will look to improve upon that at next weekend’s Dartmouth Carnival.
