Middlebury Opens Early Lead in Home Eastern College Carnival

MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury College opened its annual Eastern Championships event Friday with a narrow lead over Dartmouth.

Middlebury had no individual or team victories in the opening day of its carnival, but the team’s depth and consistency gave it an early edge over rivals Dartmouth and UVM.

One of Middlebury’s top results of the day was a third place finish by Robyn Anderson in the women’s five kilometer freestyle event. Anderson was topped by Dartmouth team mates Susan Dunklee and Elsa Sargent, who finished first and second, respectively.

Dartmouth took the win in women’s Nordic team scoring with 129 points. Middlebury earned 119 points, and the University of New Hampshire finished third with 105 points.

Sylvan Ellefson of Bates notched his second win of the season Friday in the men’s 10 kilometer Nordic event, finishing a substantial twenty seconds faster than Colby’s Wyatt Fereday who finished second. Dartmouth’s Glenn Randall took third.

Colby men earned the team victory Friday with 120 points thanks to second, seventh, and ninth place finishes. Dartmouth finished close behind in second with 118 points, and Middlebury took third with 112 points.

Alpine racers at the Middlebury Snowbowl faced heavy snowfall Friday afternoon, but course conditions remained firm underneath.

Lyndee Janowiak of the University of Vermont took the win in Friday’s slalom event, mounting a come-from-behind victory over first run winner Megan Hughes of Middlebury. Bogner points leader Veronique Archambault-Leger of the University of New Hampshire finished second, and Courtney Hammond of Dartmouth finished third.

The University of Vermont topped women’s team scoring Friday with 126 points. The University of New Hampshire finished second with 115 points, and Middlebury took third with 110 points.

On the men’s side, Bogner points leader Charles Christianson of Williams earned another victory Friday in his last eastern carnival slalom race. Christianson topped Colby’s Vincent Lebrun-Fortin and Middlebury’s Andrew Wagner, who finished second and third, respectively.

In team scoring it was the University of Vermont that took the win with 120.5 points, thanks to fourth, sixth, and seventh place finishes by Marsh Gooding, Erik Gilbert, and Chris Colpitts. Middlebury took second with 118 points, and the University of New Hampshire finished third with 108 points.

After the first day of racing, Middlebury leads overall team standings with 459 points. Dartmouth is currently in second with 449 points, and the University of Vermont sits in third with 435 points.

Middlebury Carnival racing continues Saturday with the Nordic classic mass start events, and giant slalom racing at the Middlebury Snowbowl.

Information about the remaining schedule, as well as up-to-date results and team standings can be found at www.eisaskiing.org.

Source: EISA

Photos courtesy of Kris Dobie (www.krisdobie.smugmug.com)