NEWRY AND RUMFORD, ME – The Williams Ski Team finished up the EISA Eastern Regional NCAA Skiing Championships hosted by Bates College today, placing 5th out of 16 teams. The result marks a significant improvement over last winter’s 7th place finish at Regionals. Following the trends of the regular season, the women’s Alpine and men’s Nordic teams contributed heavily to the success of the Ephs in western Maine. In a performance for the record books, Geordie Lonza ’13 took first place in today’s giant slalom at Sunday River. Combined with the 11th and 18th place efforts of Laurel Carter ’12 and first-year Shannon Campbell, the Ephwomen’s runs were good enough for 3rd place as a team, missing out on 2nd place by only the slimmest of margins. The ladies look strong heading into the NCAA Championships! Not to be outdone, the Nordic men had another great day as well. Led by a season-best performance by Dimitri Lüthi ’12 in 3rd place, Keith Kantack ’11 and Mark Johnson ’11 glided to the 9th and 16th spots on the results sheet to give their team a 3rd place finish in today’s 20-kilometer mass start classical race. The Nordic men will also send a respectable contingent to the NCAA national event in March. Following the conclusion of the men’s race, finished, the Nordic women took to the trails of Black Mountain.
Coming off a tough finish in yesterday’s race, the ladies bounced back with a 6th place performance today in their 15-kilometer mass start classical event. Kirsten Johnson ’11 paced the women in 20th while fellow senior captain Sarah Tory and Holly Whitney ’12 placed 29th and 31st, respectively. As with the men’s Nordic race, the Dartmouth Green carried the day. The men’s Alpine team also had a much better day, ending the year on a positive note by finishing a season-best 6th. First year Alex Jerred, senior captain Jeff Putnam and junior Sean Cummiskey packed into the 19th, 20th and 22nd spots. The University of Vermont won both today’s men’s and women’s giant slalom contests en route to a EISA Championship title, ending Dartmouth’s four year reign at the top of the East. Things look good for UVM indeed, who will host this year’s NCAA championships. Although carnival racing is done for the year, look for race reports from the NCAA’s beginning in two weeks.
Full results: www.eisaskiing.org
