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SARAH WRIGHT

HANOVER, N.H.– Michael Cremeno (Pembroke, N.H.), Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) all finished in the top eight of the men’s giant slalom to lead the University of New Hampshire ski team to first place in that event and fourth place overall in the Dartmouth Winter Carnival, which was held Feb. 8-9.

UNH compiled 97 points in the men’s giant slalom and 647 points overall to place behind Dartmouth College (725 points), Middlebury College (697) and University of Vermont (664) in the 11-team event.

Cremeno recorded the fastest time of 56:09 seconds on the second run of Friday’s GS at Dartmouth Skiway to climb to second place overall in 1 minute, 54.65 seconds. McNamara completed his runs in 58.17 and 56.64 for a mark of 1:54.81 in sixth place and Ford captured eighth place in 1:55.25.

In Saturday’s Nordic competition at Dartmouth XC Center, three women finished in the top 10 of the 15K mass start classic and the Wildcats took second place as a team with 91 points. Marlijne Cook (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) was the top ‘Cat in seventh place with a time of 54:34.9. Natasha Kullas (Timmins, Ontario) completed the course in 54:41.2 to edge out teammate Sarah Wright (Wyoming, Minn.) for ninth place. Wright crossed the line 1:1 seconds later to finish 10^th.

In the men’s 20K mass start classic competition, UNH took 15^th, 16^th and 19^th place. Rody Lageson (St .Paul, –Minn.–) was the top –New Hampshire– skier with a mark of 1:02:55.9 and he was followed by Dylan McGuffin (Northfield, N.H.) in 1:03:19.8 and Michael Lessard (Greene, Maine) at 1:03:39.4.

Back on the slopes of Dartmouth Skiway, the UNH women’s alpine team placed four finishers in the top 15 of Saturday’s slalom. Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) completed her two runs in 1:45.99 to take fourth place. Emily Capaul (Campton, N.H.) finished seventh overall with a mark of 1:46.86 and Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) rounded out the team scoring with 12^th place in 1:47.65. Ashley Ladd (Plymouth, N.H.) took 15^th place in 1:49.21.

McNamara led the men’s alpine team in the slalom with a time of 1:36.76 to take 11^th place. Ford followed in 13^th place at 1:36.96 and Cremeno was 15^th in 1:37.24

In Friday’s Nordic races, Wright recorded the top Wildcat finish in sixth place of the women’s 5K freestyle; she crossed the finish line in 14:34.8. Katie Miller (Lenox, Mass.) completed the course in 15:03.5 – less than one second ahead of Kullas – to take 16^th place. Kullas was 17^th in 15:04.3 and Cook, although she did not point in the event, finished 19^th in 15:06.1.

McGuffin led the UNH men’s Nordic contingent in the 10K freestyle in seventh place with a time of 25:49.7. Lessard was the next Wildcat to cross the finish line with a mark of 26:44.1 for 19^th place and Lageson completed the scoring in 29^th.

Archambault-Leger had once again finished as the top ‘Cat in Friday’s women’s giant slalom. She was timed in 2:00.33 to take sixth place overall. Farrell and Capaul also scored for the Wildcats in 17^th (2:01.92) and 19^th (2:02.09) place, respectively.

New Hampshire continues the carnival season Feb. 15-16 at Williams. The alpine events will be held at Jiminy venue is Prospect Mountain.