WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Following this past weekend’s fourth-place finish at the Williams Carnival, the Middlebury College ski team will host the Eastern Collegiate Ski Association championships this weekend at the annual Middlebury Winter Carnival.
Competition will be held at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl in Hancock and the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton.
At the Williams Carnival this past weekend, Panther highlights included a win from junior Colin Hayes in Saturday’s slalom and a victory by senior Annie Pokorny in the women’s Nordic 5-kilometer pursuit. Bristol resident Alia Johnson, a senior, also recorded a season-best 14th-place in Friday’s 10K freestyle.
The University of Vermont won the carnival with 992 points, followed by Dartmouth (919), the University of New Hampshire (720) and the Panthers (638). Alpine races were contested at Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Mass., while the Nordic races were held at the Ski Jump Venue at Lake Placid, N.Y.
On Friday, the Panthers were led by a second-place finish in the giant slalom by junior Rob Cone and a third-place effort on the Nordic side from Pokorny.
Cone finishing the GS second in 1:31.57. Sophomore Riley Plant was next for Middlebury in 13th in 1:33.74. Hayes placed 18th with a time of 1:34.51.
Freshman Caroline Bartlett continued to pace the alpine women with an 11th-place finish in the GS in 1:36.94. The only other Panther to finish the race was senior Elle Gilbert, who placed 21st in 1:39.08.
The women’s Nordic team was short a racer as senior standout Kelsey Phinney will miss the next two carnivals to represent the U.S. at the U-23 World Championships in Romania. Pokorny covered the 10K freestyle course in 28:04 to take third, while Johnson finished with a time of 29:24 for 14th. Senior Kaitlin Fink rounded out the scorers in 17th in 29:30.
Freshman Lewis Nottonson paced the men in the 10K freestyle in 13th in 25:04. Sophomore Jacob Volz took 27th in 26:03, while sophomore Evan Weinman rounded out the scorers in 33rd place (26:16).
On Saturday, Hayes earned his first career carnival win for Middlebury, taking home the crown in the slalom with a combined time of 1:59.58. Senior Ghassan Gedeon Achi earned seventh with a time of 2:01.35. Junior Christopher McKenna took 25th in 2:03.88.
Pacing the alpine women in the slalom was Bartlett, who placed 12th in 2:01. Gilbert followed in 23rd place (2:04.35), while junior Katy Greene was 35th (2:10.20).
Pokorny’s win in the 5K classic pursuit was her first victory of the season in five attempts. She completed the event in 44:04, besting her nearest opponent by nine seconds. Johnson was next for Middlebury in 18th place in 46:47, her best effort of the season in the event. Sophomore Cate Brams took 22nd in 46:51.
In the men’s 5K classic pursuit, Nottonson led the Panthers in 18th in 39:46. Next up for Middlebury was Volz, who finished 26th in 40:35. The final scorer for the Panthers was Weinman, who took 29th in 40:31.