WOMEN'S ALPINE TEAM WINS SLALOM; SKI TEAM FINISHES 3RD AT ST. MICHAEL'S

PAUL ATKINSTON

DANIELLE BARON

HUNTINGTON, Vt. and SMUGGLERS NOTCH, Vt. – Led by Catherine Blanchard (Eastman, Quebec) and Marie-Elaine Lepine (Mont-Tremblant, Quebec) in fifth and sixth place, respectively, the University of New Hampshire women’s alpine squad recorded the highest team score in the slalom on Saturday to lead the Wildcats’ ski team to third place at the St. Michael’s Winter Carnival.

UNH, which was also in third place following the opening day of action, compiled a total of 765.5 points to place behind Dartmouth College (855 points) and the University of Vermont (784) in the 12-team event.

Blanchard finished fifth overall in the women’s slalom at Smuggler’s Notch with individual runs of 51.45 seconds and 54.84 for an aggregate time of 1:46.29. Lepine’s overall time was less than one second behind Blanchard at 1:46.77; she completed the first run in 51.66 and the second in 55.11.

Cynthia Tessier (Rawdon, Quebec) completed the team scoring – UNH amassed 102 points in the discipline – in 14th place. Her overall time of 1:50.30 consisted of runs of 53.58 and 57.03. Although she didn’t point for the ‘Cats, Aliza Aylward (Warren, Vt.) did receive NCAA points with an 18th-place finish on a time of 1:50.61.

The men’s alpine squad totaled 100 points to record the second-highest team score in the slalom. Paul Atkinson (Toronto, Ontario) had the top individual Wildcat performance of the day with a fourth-place finish in 1:35.19. He skied to a mark of 46.65 in the first run and 48.54 in the second. Zach Clayton (Manassa, Va.) was close behind in sixth place with an overall time of 1:35.50 on individual runs of 47.97 and 47.53. Taylor Burton (Breckenridge, Colo.) rounded out UNH’s scoring in 18th place. His runs of 48.94 and 51.96 produced an overall time of 1:40.90.

In the Nordic races at Sleepy Hollow, the combination of Dylan McGuffin (Northfield, N.H.), Harrison Harb (Conoocook, N.H.) and Steven Bedard (Cheshire, Mass.) completed the men’s 3x3 sprint relay in an aggregate time of 31:22.2 to finish in fourth place. UNH’s women’s Nordic entry of Liz Guiney (Park City, Utah), Danielle Baron (Gilford, N.H.) and Natasha Kullas (Timmins, Ontario) also finished fourth with a mark of 38:14.2.

New Hampshire returns to the EISA circuit Feb. 6-7 at the University of Vermont Winter Carnival. The alpine races will be held at Stowe Mountain and the Nordic competition will take place at the Trapp Family Lodge (Stowe, Vt.).