Collegiate Racing Recap: EISA
EISA
HANOVER, New Hampshire (February 8 - 9, 2019) - Dartmouth College hosted its 109th Winter Carnival at Oak Hill for the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association races on Friday and Saturday. Athletes competed in a 10/15k freestyle and a 3x5k classic relay. With just three weekends of races remaining before NCAAs, competition and excitement continue to escalate. University of Vermont’s Lina Sutro (Carbondale, CO) continued her distance freestyle winning streak from the previous weekend winning the women’s 10k freestyle. Sutro claimed her fourth victory of the season overall. She was also a member of the winning 3x5k classic relay team along with teammates Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN) and Anna Bizyukova (Nolinsk, Russia). Zane Fields of Colby College grabbed the men’s 15k freestyle win, while the University of Vermont men dominated the relay.
Racers were greeted with extremely difficult conditions on Friday due to the rain, creating puddles on the race course. While the East Coast was experiencing spring-like conditions on Friday, the Midwest was braving single-digit weather, heading to subzero on Saturday. Despite the variable conditions, both Sutro and Fields managed to win the women’s and men’s freestyle distance races by a considerable amount. Sutro secured first in the 10k by 14.8 seconds ahead of Dartmouth skiers Katharine (Ogden Landgrove, Vt.) and Lauren Jortberg (Boulder, CO) who finished second and third on their home turf. Lydia Blanchet and Freed rounded out the women’s top five, grabbing fourth and fifth respectively. Several Minnesota natives finished in the top 20 including: Abigail Drach 11th (Eden Prairie, MN; Dartmouth), Renae Anderson 14th (Golden Valley, MN; Bowdoin College), Ingrid Thyr 17th (Minneapolis, MN; Williams College) and Erin Bianco 19th (Ely, MN; Colby College).
“It was a nice change of pace this weekend with a 10k skate and a classic relay,” Freed said. “I was glad the freestyle race was two laps of 5k rather than the 10k course that is at the venue, so I could know it a little better.”
Fields was in a league of his own in the men’s 15 freestyle, winning the race by a commanding one minute and 30 seconds ahead of Karl Schultz (Lake Placid, NY; UVM) and Finn O’Connell (Steamboat Springs, CO; UVM) who were second and third, respectively. Seven Minnesota natives finished in the top 25 with Nick Gardner (Stillwater, MN,Williams College) leading in 11th, Christian Gostout 18th (Rochester, MN; Bowdoin College), Torsten Brinkema 20th (Minneapolis, Minn; CBC), Foss Kerker 21st (Minneapolis, MN; CBC), Luc Golin 24th (Hamel, MN; DAR) Scott Harrison 25th (Mound, MN; CBC).
The Dartmouth Carnival concluded with a 3x5k classic relay on Saturday. The University of Vermont women’s team which consisted of Sutro, Freed and Bizyukova grabbed the relay crown but the Dartmouth women’s team (Lydia Blanchet, Taryn Hunt-Smith, Lauren Jortberg) did not let them win without a fight. The Dartmouth team led the race after the first lap until Bizyukova tagged Freed for the second leg. Freed charged from the exchange to pull away from Hunt-Smith (Dartmouth) to gain a ten second lead after the second lap. Sutro, the anchor for the UVM team did not back down despite the ten second lead. She sustained the gap until she secured the team first by 7.6 seconds ahead of Dartmouth, while Dartmouth’s second team (Emily Hyde, Leah Brams, Katharine Ogden) finished third.
“Everyone was naturally pretty excited for the relay race,” Freed commented. “I was confident in my partners' abilities to do well and tried to focus on myself to not let them down. Not only my team of three, but the whole UVM team had great races, which made for a fun day that will hopefully carry on to the rest of the season.”
In the men’s relay, The University of Vermont ruled the top three, but it was UVM’s first men’s team which consisted of Ben Ogden, Ian Moore and Matias Ovrum who dominated the race. Ogden, who just won a historic gold medal in the junior men’s relay on January 26 at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Lahti, Finland, knows what it takes to win relay races. Ogden was the only men’s skier to finish his leg under 14 minutes. UVM’s first men’s team secured first by 22.2 seconds ahead of their teammates.
The EISA jumps right back into competition February 18 and 19 for the University of New Hampshire Carnival at Jackson XC Nordic trails. Competition will include a 20/15k classic mass start on Friday and a freestyle sprint race on Saturday.
RESULTS
 | About the author... Mary Kozloski is from Green Bay, WI and is a UW Green Bay Ski Team Alumni, where she skied and studied Communications and Business Administration for four years. Mary continues to love and stay connected to the sport through writing. She is a travel and outdoor enthusiast and enjoys exploring everything Colorado has to offer, which she has called her new home state since fall of 2016. |