Men’s slalom leads Middlebury to fifth place finish at Williams

After seeing improvement last week at Dartmouth, the ski team took a slight step back this weekend down at Williams. The team took fifth overall, finishing behind Dartmouth, UVM, UNH and the hosting Ephs. Despite some impressive individual performances and a good day for the men’s alpine team on Saturday, the Panthers could not overcome some key setbacks.

The men’s alpine team had a great showing on Saturday, placing two racers in the top ten in the slalom event. Jake Lund ’11 took fourth place and Brian Shpall ’13 was not far behind, taking sixth for the event. Lund, who recorded his best finish yet this year, was happy with the result.

“I’ve been skiing well as of late,” said Lund, “but until Saturday I hadn’t put anything together. I’m happy to be peaking toward the end of the season, and Saturday’s result definitely gives me a lot of confidence going into our home carnival.” Friday’s GS event proved to be successful for the Panthers as well. Shpall and fellow first-year racer Andrew McNealus ’13 finished 12th and 13th, respectively, while Brian Swartz ’10 took 21st.

While men’s alpine had a successful weekend, standout women’s skier Nicole Dvorak ’11 was the story of the weekend for Middlebury alpine. Dvorak produced two top-ten finishes in her two races on Friday and Saturday, finishing eighth in the GS and an impressive third in the Slalom. Dvorak has been performing well for the Panthers all year, pacing a women’s alpine team that has been improving every race, and was positive about the outlook for the upcoming home carnival.

“This is exactly the kind of momentum we need as we enter the final carnival, said Dvorak. “I am confident we will see some excellent moments on our home hill this weekend.” Lindsay Kraft ’11 finished behind Dvorak in the GS, coming in 14th, and Christine Schozer ’13 came in 23rd to round out Panther scorers. Schozer also scored in the slalom, placing 27th, followed by Leah McLaughry ’10 in 31st.

The Nordic side did not see the success it has grown accustomed to this season. In the last two carnivals, the men’s Nordies have been winning events left and right, dominating their competition behind some clutch performances courtesy of Patrick Johnson ’11. Last week at Williams, the team did not win an event outright, but still performed well. Johnson continued his success, turning in a second place finish in the 10k classic and a 10th-place finish in the 10k freestyle race. Dylan Grald ’13 and Chase Marston ’12 also turned in solid performances in the 10k classic, finishing 10th and 13th, respectively. The 10k freestyle, however, saw a drop-off with Middlebury’s next scorers, with Jimmy Levins ’11 and Marston, coming in 24th and 28th, respectively.

The women’s Nordic side produced some impressive finishes as well, led by Corrine Prevot ’12. Prevot paced the Panthers in both the 5k classic and the 5k freestyle, placing 10th in the classic and 20th in the freestyle. The next scorers in the 5k classic were Keely Levins ’13, notching 16th, and Lauren Fritz ’10, in 18th. The freestyle saw Fritz right behind Prevot in 21st, and Levins rounded out scorers in 32nd.

This weekend is Winter Carnival and the alpine and Nordic teams will be hitting the Bowl and Breadloaf hard to improve their performances from the week before. With a fresh coat of powder from the recent snowstorm blanketing the mountain, there is no reason why the ski team shouldn’t be up all night on Saturday celebrating a successful weekend.