FRANCONIA, N.H. – Senior Vanessa Riise Naas (Lillestrøm, Norway) celebrated her final giant slalom carnival race in style, posting a career-best finish to lead the Plymouth State University alpine ski teams at the UNH Carnival, serving as this year's EISA Championships and NCAA East Regionals, at Mittersill at Cannon Mountain on Friday.
 
Riise Naas took full advantage of racing on her home mountain, posting the sixth fastest run of the morning. She was just as dynamic in the afternoon, posting her first career top ten finish by ending up eighth overall.
 
Classmate Max Haussmann (Reutlingen, Germany) was the top finisher on the men's side, cruising through the finish in 19th. Haussmann has posted top-20 finishes in the GS in all but one carnival race of his career.
 
The women put together their best team finish of the season, taking fourth behind NCAA Division I UVM, Dartmouth and UNH. The men finished 11th.
 
 
The Basics:

• UNH Carnival / EISA Championships / NCAA East Regionals (Women's GS)
  • Highest finish: 8th (Riise Naas)
  • Top-10 finishes: Riise Naas 

• UNH Carnival / EISA Championships / NCAA East Regionals (Men's GS)
  • Highest finish: 19th (Haussmann)
  • Top-10 finishes: None

Team Scores:

• UNH Carnival / EISA Championships / NCAA East Regionals (Women's GS)
  • UVM (126), Dartmouth (113), UNH (102), Plymouth State (81), St. Michael's (71), Middlebury (68), Williams (63), Boston College (55), Colby (47.5), St. Lawrence (40.5), Bates (34), Colby-Sawyer (11), Harvard (0)
• UNH Carnival / EISA Championships / NCAA East Regionals (Men's GS)
  • Dartmouth (135), Middlebury (112), UVM (94), UNH (76), St. Lawrence (66), Harvard (65), Colby (61), St. Michael's (56), Boston College (45), Williams (42), Plymouth State (33), Bates (21), Colby-Sawyer (10)

How it Happened (Women's GS):

• Riise Naas threw down a huge first run on her home mountain to sit in sixth. Her 1:11.37 was just a half-second off the co-leaders' pace. She followed with another strong performance in the afternoon, getting down the hill in 1:07.80 for a combined 2:19.17 and eighth place finish. It was her first career top ten in either discipline, topping a 13th-place showing achieved at the St. Lawrence Carnival earlier this season.
• Senior Tindra Bergstrand (Taby, Sweden) posted a 1:11.86 in the morning to rank 12th and she remained in striking distance of the top ten after her afternoon run of 1:07.81. Her 2:19.67 total time left her in 13th, giving her four top-15 finishes in the GS this winter.
• Freshman Olivia Andersson (Vaxholm, Sweden) had a strong first run time of 1:13.30 to sit in 25th. She followed that up with a 1:08.29 in the afternoon to finish 26th overall in 2:21.59, firmly ahead of her #38 bib.
• Senior Ronja Dahlin (Hudiksvall, Sweden) and freshman Meg Heckey (Québec City, Québec) were neck-and-neck in the morning. Dahlin's 1:15.55 was good enough for 42nd, with Heckey one spot back in 1:15.80.
• Heckey was able to leapfrog Dahlin in the afternoon, sliding up to 38th with a combined 2:25.95, with Dahlin right behind her in 39th with a 2:26.12.
• Senior Antonie Hruskova (Rokytnice nad Jizerou, Czech Republic) posted an opening run of 1:20.73. Her afternoon time of 1:15.53 left her in 55th, more than ten spots above her prerace ranking.

How it Happened (Men's GS):

• Haussmann was the men's top finisher in the morning, ranking 20th after skiing a 1:10.99. He used the 11th-best run of the afternoon to jump up one spot and end the day in 19th, continuing an impressive run of top-20 performances. He finished with a combined time of 2:15.89.
• Sophomore Vincent Fosser (Helsingborg, Sweden) continued to outperform his bib number by leaps and bounds. He was 54th after his first run of 1:13.20, then bumped up nine spots to 45th with a combined 2:20.50, despite wearing bib #77.
• Senior Reed Wilson (Bristol, N.H.) wasn't far behind, sitting in 60th after his morning run of 1:14.04. He also moved up the rankings after his second run, sliding up to 49th with a 2:22.25.
• Graduate student Sam Hayden (Richmond, Vt.) sat in 32nd with a 1:11.65 first run, but he was unable to complete his second run.
• Graduate student Chauncey Morgan (Etna, N.H.) and senior Julius Mondschein (Oslo, Norway) were unable to complete their first runs.

 
Up Next:

• The Panthers return to the hill tomorrow (Feb. 22) for the slalom.