By: Caleb Horsch
The Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association is on the brink of an exhilarating start this Friday, as the best college racers in the east gear up for six weekends of racing. The anticipation is high as individual and team results and coveted spots at the NCAA Championships hang in the balance.
The carnival season will kick off at Sunday River for the Bates Carnival before a stop at Whiteface for the Saint Lawrence Carnival, the site of the 1980 Olympics. An off weekend will provide some respite before racing at Smuggler’s Notch (Saint Michael’s), The Dartmouth Skiway, The Middlebury Snowbowl, and Mittersill (University of New Hampshire). The season will conclude with another trip to the Skiway for the NCAA Championships.
This season promises to be exciting, with some key departures opening up opportunities. The early-season Eastern Cup and Nor-Am races offer a preview of the fierce competition expected this year. Check out the teams vying for a national title this year, the returning skiers looking to dominate, and the newcomers eager to leave their mark.
Bates
Best Returners: Juliette Hoder (So.) and Nic Hotermans (Sr.)
Newcomer to watch: Zac Bower
The Bobcats returned to the NCAA Championships last season with Juliette Hoder for the first time since 2020. Hoder finished sixth at the Middlebury Carnival last year and combined that with a ninth-place finish at Dartmouth. The circuit will return to both hills this season, and Dartmouth will host the NCAA Championships, which bodes well for another solid year for the Sophomore who won the Bates Athletics Rookie of the Year award last season.
While Bates will miss the presence of Bo Underhill this year, who is pursuing a fifth year at the University of New Hampshire, the team is ready to fill his role. Nic Hotermans has been a standout performer in the early season FIS races, particularly in Slalom where he has secured three Top 10 finishes at competitive FIS races.
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Boston College
Best Returners: Lauren Hunter (Sr.) and Bode Flanigan (Jr.)
Newcomer to watch: Meagan Olsen
Now in her third year at Boston College, Alex Norden has shaped the Eagles into a formidable squad. Bode Flanigan returned to his hometown of Steamboat Springs for the NCAA Championships last season after a podium in the Harvard GS. BC adds multiple graduate transfers this year, picking up some of the best graduates from last season who were eager to take advantage of an additional year of eligibility from the pandemic. Alexandra Cossette from Middlebury, Meagan Olsen from Colby, and Charlie Lange from Middlebury all qualified for the NCAA Championships last season and will look to keep the speed going with their new clubs. They also add Avery Leonard from Bates and Diego Holscher from UVM.
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Colby
Best Returners: Hannah Soria (Sr.) and Harrison Digangi (So.)
Newcomer to watch: Finn Boissonneault
The Mules qualified four skiers for the NCAA Championships last year, their largest team since 2015. The Sophomore sensations of Harrison Digangi and Nolan Sweeney both qualified last year, with Digangi grabbing the first male podium since 2010. Sweeney has been turning heads around the region if not the country on the Eastern Cup circuit this year. He has won three of his last four GS starts, scoring a minimum result of 23 in all three wins. Noah Riemenschneider, also a sophomore, barely missed out on qualifying for NCAA’s last year but notched fourth place at his home carnival.
For the women, Hannah Soria returns after a super season where she won the GS race at the Harvard carnival. She has not missed a beat so far this season and her slalom looks much improved; she has scored some massive results already this year. Her teammate Lydia Riddell has equally impressed and will return to the hill where she became an All-American two seasons ago for the Saint Lawrence Carnival. Carissa Cassidy and Molly Mueller are sure to be competitive after some strong results last season.
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Colby-Sawyer
Best Returners: Jacklyn Tracy (Jr.) Jackson Musial (Jr.)
Freshmen to watch: Henry Regrut
Jackson Musial has flashed impressive speed so far this year. Last season, he scored the team’s first EISA points in two seasons and looks poised to do that and much more in Slalom. His best result came in the Williams Carnival when he finished 29th. This year the Chargers return much of last year’s team and add Henry Regrut to the mix.
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Dartmouth
Best Returners: Allie Resnick (Sr.) and Oscar Zimmer (Jr.)
Newcomer to watch: Philip Lundquist
Dartmouth led the Eastern Region at the NCAA Championships last year, scoring 399 points and four All-American honors. Oscar Zimmer was instrumental to the squad, finishing second in the Championship Slalom. Dan Gillis and Oliver Morgan were also critical pieces for the team, notching podiums throughout the season. A stellar first-year class led by Philiip Lundquist will look to push the squad to new heights.
Allie Resnick totaled four wins last year, two in each discipline, stamping her authority on the women’s field. Three other women scored at least one podium, including three from Zoe Zimmerman. The results led the Big Green to a win at the opening Colby Carnival, the only time UVM lost last season.
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Harvard
Best Returners: Emma Speiser (So.) and Luke Kearing (Jr.)
Newcomer to watch: Skylar Sheppard
Scott MacPherson’s squad continued their NCAA Championship qualifying streak last year with the qualification of Elsie Halvorsen. Halvorsen graduated last year, but the Crimson have reloaded on talent with Skylar Sheppard, Duncan Armstrong, and Emma Lenoël Quang. Sheppard and Quang have notched results in early-season racing and join a talented group of first-year students in the league. The men’s team has also been off to a solid start, particularly in Slalom, led by Luke Kearing, Matt Ryan, and Armstrong. Last season, Ryan notched Top 30 finishes in every Slalom race, including three Top 11 finishes.
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Middlebury
Best Returners: Mika-Anne Reha (Sr.) and Brad Underhill (Sr.)
Newcomer to watch: Kjersti Moritz
Stever Bartlett and Abigail Copeland’s Middlebury Panthers will be led by Mika-Anne Reha and Brad Underhill, who both found great success last season. Brad collected three podiums last year, including a win at the Harvard GS. Mika finished near the top of the Slalom standings and scored two wins last year at the Williams and Middlebury Carnival. The Panthers will also bring back Nick Unkovskoy and Kaitlyn Finn, who have the speed to win on any given day. Junior Sophia Tozzi returns from a knee injury, and the squad adds Kjersti Moritz, who has two Top 5’s on the Nor-Am circuit so far this year.
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Plymouth State
Best Returners: Tindra Bergstrand (Jr.) and Max Haussmann (Sr.)
Newcomer to watch: Chauncey Morgan
The Panthers were headlined again by the rock-solid Max Haussmann, who made the NCAA Championships for a second consecutive year. Haussman has shown extremely competitive speed in both events, which will surely help him under the new NCAA qualification method. Last year, he notched a fourth, fifth, and two sixth places in route to All-EISA honors. Tindra Bergstrand led the women’s team last year; she was notably strong in GS, where she skied into the Top 10 in three different races.
Plymouth State will also bring back the one and only Chauncey Morgan. A two-time NCAA qualifier at Colby, Morgan has been a staple on the EISA circuit for six years. He had a great deal of success at Colby, including a near-constant presence in the Top 10, and will look to replicate that after a year off to undergo back surgery.
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Saint Lawrence
Best Returners: Audrey Higgins-Lopez (Jr.) and Alec Nolan (Jr.)
Newcomer to watch: Jacob Foote
Early season results could not have been much better for the Saints; Alec Nolan led the squad in racing at Burke Mountain, scoring big results. Simon Trudeau, Jacob Foote, and Kobe Villeneuve were all right in the mix and will present a formidable and deep team. Audrey Higgins-Lopez leads the women’s squad; she skied to seventh place last season at the opening Colby Carnival GS. Benedetta Caloro was a consistent presence in Slalom last season with five Top 30 finishes. The circuit will return to Whiteface this year for the Saint Lawrence carnival, where the Saints will look to impress on their home hill.
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Saint Michael’s
Best Returners: Helene Kristofferson (Sr.) and Gray Flanagan (Jr.)
Newcomer to watch: Isabella Knutsen
Potentially the best first-year class in the league, Saint Michael’s has reloaded on talent after Slalom and GS All-American Simen Strand graduated. Isabella Knutsen and Oscar Preisler will surely have an immediate impact.
Helene Kristoffersen has been a force to be reckoned with since coming onto the circuit. A three-time NCAA qualifier, she scored a second-place result at the Harvard GS last season. On the men’s side, Saint Michael’s lost Simen Strand, who graduated last spring. However, they return NCAA qualifier Gray Flanagan, whose full-attack GS skiing delivered him the win at the opening GS race last year and is always entertaining to watch. Aidan Robin and Lawton Jones will look to help fill the gap, and the duo has been fast so far this season.
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University of New Hampshire
Best Returners: Tilde Kandell (Jr.) and Isac Hedstroem (Sr.)
Newcomer to watch: Dasha Romanov
The Wildcats placed a full team of three men and three women into the NCAA Championships last year. They return four of those skiers this year, headlined by Tilde Kandell and Isac Hedstroem. They both represent threats in Slalom and GS and scored Top 5’s in both events last year. Hedstroem posted three podiums and won the opening Slalom of the season. They return Hayden Dahl and Zoe Michael while bringing in former US Ski Team member Dasha Romanov. Romanov has had multiple World Cup starts and will almost assuredly be in the hunt for Rookie of the Year.
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University of Vermont
Best Returners: Justine Clément (Gr.) and Magnus Styren (So.)
Newcomer to watch: Oskar Gillberg
The Catamounts have been the team to beat on the circuit in the past, and this year looks no different. Justine Clément was a constant presence on the podium last season, podiuming in all but one race. However, Clément was not the only UVM skier near the top of the results page in Slalom. Cydnie Timmermann, Hanna Larsson Nathhorst, and Moa Clementson were both on the podium in the discipline. Larsson Nathhorst finished on the podium a whopping five times last year in her first season with the Catamounts.
Winners of all but one carnival last year, Magnus Styren, was a big reason why. Styren earned Rookie of the Year honors with six finishes in the Top 5 and a win at the Dartmouth Slalom while grabbing All-American honors in both GS and Slalom. The men’s team loses Declan McCormack and Diego Holscher to graduation but returns Kyle Alexander, who was second at the UVM GS last year.
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Williams
Best Returners: Chloe Aust (Sr.) and Cooper Iacobelli (Jr.)
Freshmen to watch: Taylor Dulaney
A string of unfortunate injuries clouded what could have been a stellar season for the Williams College Ephs. But if this team can stay healthy this year, they will be in the mix. Chloe Aust and Jane Gutchess lead the squad on the women's side. Gutchess scored a fifth-place finish at the Harvard GS and will look to return the Ephs to the NCAA Championships. Cooper Iacobelli and Bennett Snyder lead the men's team. Iacobelli finished in 13th at the Dartmouth GS, a hill the circuit will return to this season. Taylor Dulaney also looks set to impact the squad immediately in his first year.
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