Middlebury's Donaldson and Vermont's Patterson Go Two-For-Two

Vermont's Elli Terwiel won the women's slalom by a sizable margin (photo: Marina Knight)

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — The defending NCAA champion University of Vermont Catamounts capped off an impressive victory in the first completed carnival of the EISA season with slalom races and an individual freestyle prologue on Sunday. Vermont tallied 1,013 points to take the team win over runner-up Dartmouth with 788 points and third place New Hampshire who collected 748.5 points. 

The University of New Hampshire Nordic women once again dominated the freestyle race, winning team scoring in the 3k prologue. Elizabeth Izzo took the win, and teammates Anya Bean and Annika Taylor finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Vermont Catamount Anja Gruber, who won Friday's race, finished second while Dartmouth's Carly Wynn rounded out the podium in third.

Vermont's Scott Patterson won for the second day in a row, demonstrating that the illness and injury that plagued him last season is certainly a thing of the past. Jordan Buetow of Bates, a promising freestyle specialist, collected his first EISA podium in second, as did Vermont's Cole Morgen in third.

The slalom races at Whiteface Mountain in nearby Wilmington saw familiar faces on top once again. Middlebury's David Donaldson won the men's contest and is now 3-for-4 on victories in EISA competition this season. Vermont's Travis Dawson, last week's slalom victor, placed second and New Hampshire's Coley Oliver was third.

Donaldson, or 'Donnie' as he is known on the circuit, skied with bad frostbite from the previous day and remarked, "It was a little warmer [today] which actually played against my frostbite because if it's cold enough, you don't feel your toes, they just kind of go away, and you can ski the rest of the day. When it's as warm as it was today, you feel them every single turn."

Middlebury alpine coach Abby Copeland says Donaldson brings something special to the Panther squad. "Donnie brings way more than just good results. He's a real team guy, always helping out, coaching actually. Athletes ride up the chairlift with him to get feedback, and he's supportive of everyone on our team which is, frankly, my favorite thing about him. To see him ski well both days is awesome for him and awesome for the team," she said.

In the women's race, Vermont's Elli Terwiel, fresh off a 17th place finish in the Flachau World Cup night slalom, claimed a victory just shy of two seconds over teammate Kristina Riis-Johannessen. Dartmouth's Lizzie Kistler, a freshman, claimed her first official EISA podium in third.

EISA racing continues Jan. 25-27 when Colby College hosts the next carnival with alpine events at Sugarloaf and Nordic races at the Quarry Road Trails.

Complete team scoring from the St. Lawrence Carnival:
1.   UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT - 1013.0            
2.   DARTMOUTH COLLEGE - 788.0            
3.   UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE - 748.5            
4.   MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE - 695.0            
5.   BATES COLLEGE - 551.5            
6.   COLBY COLLEGE - 474.5            
7.   WILLIAMS COLLEGE - 449.0            
8.   ST LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY - 445.0            
9.   HARVARD UNIVERSITY - 314.5            
10.   ST MICHAELS COLLEGE - 219.5            
11.   BOWDOIN COLLEGE - 196.0            
12.   UNIVERSITE' LAVAL - 181.5            
13.   BOSTON COLLEGE - 151.0            
14.   PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY - 129.0            
15.   COLBY SAWYER COLLEGE - 81.0            
16.   UNIVERSITY OF ME - PRESQUE ISLE - 68.0  

Video of double race winner David Donaldson of the Middlebury Panthers.

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