ALPINE SQUAD TAKES SECOND PLACE IN BOTH SLALOMS; SKI TEAM REMAINS IN 3RD PLACE AT UVM

PAUL ATKINSON

NATASHA KULLAS

STOWE, Vt. – Both the men’s and women’s alpine teams recorded the second-highest team scores in the slalom races as the University of New Hampshire ski team held on to third place following Saturday’s competition of the University of Vermont Winter Carnival.

UNH has a two-day total of 585 points to trail the host school, UVM (687 points) and Dartmouth College (660) in the 13-team event. The carnival concludes Sunday with the Nordic races at Trapp Family Lodge.

Both alpine squads recorded a pair of top-10 efforts en route to compiling a total of 215 points –109 by the women and 106 by the men.

Paul Atkinson (Toronto, Onario) completed his first slalom run in 48.61 second and the second in 51.00 for an overall mark of 1 minute, 39.61 seconds to earn third place. Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) had an aggregate time of 1:40.07 to finish directly behind Atkinson in fourth place; his second mark of 50.85 followed a run of 49.22. Taylor Burton (Breckenridge, Colo.) completed UNH’s scoring in 21st place; he had the fastest second run of the top three ‘Cats with a time of 50.68 to produce an overall mark of 1:43.23.

The UNH women’s alpine squad had four of the top 14 finishers. Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) raced to third place overall with a time of 1:43.00; her individual runs were timed in 51.80 and 51.20. Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) took sixth place as her runs of 52.02 and 51.82 produced a combined time of 1:43.84. Aliza Aylward (Warren, Vt.) rounded out the scoring in 13th place at 1:46.49; she was timed at 54.21 in the opening run and 52.28 in the second. Cynthia Tessier (Rawdon, Quebec) placed 14th overall with an aggregate time of 1:47.60.

UNH’s women’s Nordic squad amassed 86 points, which was third best on the day in the 5K classic race at Trapp Family Lodge. Natasha Kullas (Timmins, Ontario) was the first Wildcat and eighth skier overall to cross the finish line with her tie of 17:17.1. Liz Guiney (Park City, Utah) completed the course in 17:34.1 to take 13th place and she was followed in 22nd place by Anya Caldwell Bean (Wolfeboro, N.H.) with a time of 17:52.6.

Led by Dylan McGuffin (Northfield, N.H.) in 11th place with a time of 30:26.7, the UNH Nordic team compiled 83 points for fifth place in the 10K classic. Erik Lindgren (Pitea, Sweden) was the next fastest Wildcat with a time of 30:54.7, which placed 16th overall. Michael Lessard (Greene, Maine) and Harrison Harb (Contoocook, N.H.) finished 19th and 20th, respectively; Lessard was timed in 31:18.5 while Harb’s mark was 31:27.7.