The Middlebury ski teams opened their 2017 carnival season by taking part in the St. Lawrence Carnival. Alpine events were held at Whiteface, while the nordic races took place at Mt. Vanhoevenberg. Caroline Bartlett claimed her first-career carnival title on the women's side, while the Panther men's alpine team placed six racers in the top 15 on day one. Dartmouth leads the field after day one with 444 points, followed by the University of Vermont (399), Middlebury (357) and the University of New Hampshire (348). Action resumes on Saturday with the slalom races as well as the women's 5K and men's 10K freestyle races.
Bartlett led the pack to the finish on the women's side, posting a combined time of 2:09.20. While the victory for Bartlett wasn't surprising, her margin of victory was, besting the field by nearly four seconds. The Panthers then placed a pack of three racers among four spots, led by a ninth-place finish by Lexi Calcagni (2:15.14). Katie Utter rounded out the scorers in 11th with a time of 2:15.31, while Jackie Atkins was just behind her in 12th place (2:15.50).
Just missing on another carnival win was Rob Cone, who finished with a two-run time of 2:06.05. The senior sat in 26th place after one run before blistering the course on his second trip down the mountain to place second overall. Riley Plant earned a seventh-place effort, coming in with a combined time of 2:07.45. Just behind him was teammate Colin Hayes, whose time of 2:07.54 placed him in eighth place to round out the scorers. The success didn't stop there, as Angie Duke (2:07.72) finished 11th, while Devon Cardamone (2:07.84) crossed the line in 12th place.
On the nordic side, Evan Weinman led the Panther men in the classic sprints, finishing in ninth place with a time of 3:03.16. Adam Luban was next for Middlebury, crossing the line in 25th with a time of 3:10.96. Completing the group of scorers was Sam Wood, who earned a time of 3:11.83 to finish 34th overall.
Cate Brams led the women's team, just missing the top 10 with a time of 3:37.96, good for 11th-place overall. Kaitlin Fink was next for the Panthers in 28th (3:45.82), followed by Orli Schwartz, who crossed the line in 32nd place (3:50.54).
