The Middlebury College alpine ski team concluded the first carnival of the season at St. Lawrence with a fourth-place finish, tallying 749 points after the slalom event. Dartmouth took first with 873 points, followed by the University of Vermont at 869 and the University of New Hampshire at 762.5. Middlebury's men's and women's teams placed third and fourth, respectively.
The St. Lawrence Carnival marked the opening competition of the alpine skiing season for several Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association teams. On Friday, January 23, the event wrapped up with the slalom race in Wilmington, N.Y., where Middlebury secured fourth overall.
In the men's slalom, Middlebury earned third place with 93 points. Rookie Julian Arthur led the Panthers, finishing sixth with a two-run time of 1:27.81. He improved by 0.19 seconds on his second run to claim his first top-10 result for Middlebury. Nicholas Unkovskoy placed tenth at 1:28.16, marking his eighth top-10 finish in a Middlebury uniform. Sebastian Segre rounded out the scoring in 16th with 1:28.48.
The women's team scored 87 points for fourth place. Sophia Tozzi took eighth at 1:35.14, while rookie Sophia Palmquist finished 12th in 1:35.57 after cutting nearly a second on her second run to climb 12 spots. Kaite Fynn closed the scoring in 16th at 1:36.03.
Dartmouth dominated with 873 points, edging out Vermont's 869. New Hampshire completed the podium at 762.5. For Vermont, Sara Stiel highlighted day one of the carnival in the giant slalom with a season-best fourth place.
Middlebury's alpine program next heads to the Dartmouth Carnival starting January 30.
