The Dartmouth men's ski team attacked the trails of Oak Hill and the slopes of the Skiway, putting forth their best effort of the year at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival.
Victory eluded the Big Green, however, as Dartmouth placed second for the fourth week in a row.
The University of Vermont Catamounts edged out the Big Green by only two points, preventing the men from taking their first carnival win since the Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association Championships last year. Middlebury College finished third, more than 100 points behind the Big Green.
Alpine skier J.P. Daigneault '97 continued to accumulate wins with victories in the slalom and giant slalom. The alpine men remain undefeated for the season.
"I'm glad we skied as strong as I had predicted," Daigneault said. "We keep coming closer and closer to winning the overall. Everyone is starting to ski really well now, maybe we'll win next week."
The biggest news of the weekend was Andy Martin '96 who duplicated his second place giant slalom result from last year and skied an excellent slalom race Saturday to finish third.
Ben Robinson '97 was one turn away from securing the overall win for the men's team when he straddled a gate. Robinson crossed the finish line in second place, but was later disqualified.
The Nordic team skied its best race of the season at Oak Hill this weekend. In the 15km classical race Friday, Cory Smith '96 finished third, captain Todd Grover '94 took a season-best sixth, and Colter Leys took eighth. The same trio finished second in Saturday's 3X5km freestyle relay.
The women performed consistently both days and managed to pull together their best overall finish of the season, finishing third behind UVM and Middlebury. The University of New Hampshire finished fourth, only two points off the Big Green.
Co-captain Liza Kiesler '94 led the charge again this week finishing sixth in the 10km classical race and skiing a fast leg in the 3X5km freestyle relay to secure a fifth for her squad.
Heather Eliassen '95 and Wendy Osterling '95 both scored points in the classical race finishing in the top fifteen.
The best alpine result came from captain Jesse James '95 who took sixth in the giant slalom and ninth in the slalom. Pam Finnerty '97, Nora Stowell '96 and Keirsten Lawton '94 all placed in the top fifteen to secure a strong finish for the women's team.
