WOMEN'S ALPINE PLACES 3RD IN SLALOM; SKI TEAM IN 4TH PLACE AT DARTMOUTH CARNIVAL

Friday, February 12

University of New Hampshire

Dartmouth Winter Carnival

WOMEN'S ALPINE PLACES 3RD IN SLALOM; SKI TEAM IN 4TH PLACE AT DARTMOUTH CARNIVAL

2/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Skiing, Women's Skiing

VERONIQUE ARCHAMBAULT-LEGER

NATASHA KULLAS

HANOVER, N.H. and STOWE, Vt. – Led by Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) in third place and Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) in eighth place in the women's slalom, the University of New Hampshire ski team is in fourth place following Friday's competition at the 100th Dartmouth Winter Carnival.

The UNH women's alpine squad compiled the third-highest team score of 106 points and the Wildcats amassed a total of 329 points in the four disciplines that were contested Friday. Dartmouth College (473 points), the University of Vermont (450.5) and Middlebury College (381) are ahead of the 'Cats in the 13-team event.

Archambault-Leger recorded an overall time of 1 minute, 42.86 seconds in the women's slalom at the Dartmouth Skiway to finish with the third-fastest aggregate time. She completed her first run in 49.79 seconds, which was the fourth-best opening run mark, and advanced up to third place following a second run of 53.07.

Farrell, who was in 25th place following her first-run time of 52.39, was timed in 51.89 in the second run – the fastest second run of the day – to vault into eighth place overall with a mark of 1:44.28.

Marie-Elaine Lepine (Mont Tremblant, Quebec) completed her two runs less than a second off of Farrell's mark. With individual times of 50.45 and 54.55, Lepine placed 12th overall at 1:45.00.

The UNH men's alpine totaled 70 points in the slalom. Zach Clayton (Manassa, Va.) was the top 'Cat in 13th place overall at 1:32.83. He raced down the slope in 47.18 in the first run and 45.65 in the second run. Taylor Burton (Breckenridge, Colo.) edged teammate Viktor Hlas (Winnipeg, Manitoba) to complete the team scoring in 22nd and 23rd place, respectively. Burton had runs of 49.19 and 46.91 for an overall time of 1:36.10 while Hlas' time of 1:36.11 was comprised of individual runs of 49.33 and 46.78.

Due to weather conditions, the Nordic competition was relocated to the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt., and the women's squad compiled 78 points, which was the fifth-best total in the 15K classic mass start. The men's Nordic team tallied 75 points, which ranked sixth, in the 20K classic mass start.

Three UNH skiers finished among the top 20 overall in the women's race. Natasha Kullas (Timmins, Ontario) completed the 15K course in 51:04.3 to earn 13th place. She was followed by Anya Caldwell Bean (Wolfeboro, N.H.) in 16th place at 51:24.0 and Danielle Baron (Gilford, N.H.) in 20th at 51:41.7.

Although they did not score for the 'Cats, both Abigail Taylor (Pittsford, N.Y.) and Liz Guiney (Park City, Utah) received NCAA points for their effort. Taylor crossed the finish line in 51:59.0 (25th place) and Guiney was timed in 52:07.5 (27th).

Dylan McGuffin (Northfield, N.H.) was once again UNH's top finisher on the men's side. He was the 16th skier overall to cross the finish line in his time of 1 hour, 12.4 seconds. Erik Lindgren (Pitea, Sweden) and Michael Lessard (Greene, Maine) finished within a minute of McGuffin. Lindgren's time of 1:00:40.8 was the 19th-fastest mark while Lessard finished in 21st place at 1:01:02.1.

The New Hampshire ski team concludes competition at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival on Saturday. The giant slalom races will be contested at Dartmouth Skiway and the 3x5K freestyle relay will be held at Stowe.