With the NCAA Championships less than two weeks away, the ski team, hampered by sickness, took to the road last Friday and Saturday, posting some of its best individual results of the season, but struggling as a team in the Eastern Collegiate Championships.
The men finished third in overall competition just two points behind host Middlebury College, while the University of Vermont took the win.
On the women's side, the Big Green took fourth overall behind UVM, Middlebury and the University of New Hampshire.
J.P. Daigneault '97, who missed training last week because of a sore throat, led the alpine men to a giant slalom victory Friday, tying for second place, in front of captain Jay Nohl '94 who is in fourth and Ben Robinson '97 who is in sixth.
In the slalom, Daigneault failed to finish for the first time this season. But Andy Martin '96 charged down the hill to finish second behind Tom Schaefer of the University of Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, Martin's teammates could not fill the rest of the void left by Daigneault's fall, and the previously undefeated alpine team experienced its first loss, placing fourth behind Middlebury, UVM and Williams College.
Even though the NCAAs start one week from today in Sugarloaf, Maine, Big Green Coach Peter Dodge is not concerned about the team losing momentum.
"We've had a great season," Dodge said. "Maybe we've been getting a little tired feeling the pressure of remaining undefeated, but now that pressure is off."
Dodge said all the teams from the West will be tough to beat at the NCAAs, but he thinks Dartmouth's alpine men can win one or both of the events.
"If everyone has good race days, we can win very strongly," he said.
All four skiers could place in the top 10 and Daigneault has an excellent chance to win at least one of the races, Dodge said.
The Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association named Daigneault and Nohl to the first team All-East and Martin to the second team based on results from the season that ranked them in the top 10 in the East. All three plus Robinson qualified for NCAAs.
Cory Smith '96 led the Nordic men's team, finishing fourth in the 10km classic and 10th in the 20km freestyle.
Captain Todd Grover '94 grabbed sixth in the classic race and Colter Leys '96 pulled in front of all of his teammates in the freestyle race, finishing eighth. The team finished second in both of its races.
Smith's consistent top-five performance this season earned him a place on the first team All-East, while Grover used improved results in the last three carnivals to earn himself a spot on the second team.
Grover, Smith, Leys and Brant Stead '96 all qualified for the NCAAs.
Nordic co-captains Liza Kiesler '94 and Jane Eckels '94 scored points for the Big Green in the 5km classical race and the 15km freestyle, despite being sick.
Eckels checked out of Dick Hall's House Thursday morning and raced her way into ninth place in Friday's classical race and 12th place in the freestyle Saturday.
Kiesler had troubles Friday, finishing 14th, but bounced back on Saturday to finish seventh.
Wendy Osterling '95 had one of her top results of the season, finishing eighth, .1 seconds in front of Eckels, to lead the team in the classical race.
Heather Eliassen '95, also suffering from an illness, managed 17th place on Friday but could not start the race on Saturday.
Kiesler was named to the second team All-East for her outstanding results all season.
Osterling, Eliassen and Kiesler will all ski in the NCAAs. Eckels missed qualifying by only one place because of a slow start at the beginning of the season.
The alpine women did not suffer illness or injury like their Nordic counterparts, but something kept them from putting things together in the last race of the regular season.
Captain Jesse James '95 finished 10th in the giant slalom and 14th in the slalom to lead her team. Pam Finnerty '97 had her best run of the season, scoring sixth on the second run and moving up to 12th in the race.
Nora Stowell '96 scored the only other notable result for the team, placing 20th in the giant slalom.
Only James qualified for the NCAAs, but Coach Dave Gregory said he thinks James could surprise some people there. She has the potential to place in the top 10 in one of the two races and earn herself All-American honors, he said.
The ski team leaves Monday to train at Sugarloaf. The NCAAs take place March 9 - 15.
