Dartmouth's Lauren Jortberg cometes in the Nordic 5-kilometer classical race at the 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H. (Steve Fuller photograph)
Dartmouth's Lauren Jortberg cometes in the Nordic 5-kilometer classical race at the 2017 NCAA Skiing Championships at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H. (Steve Fuller photograph)

Jackson, n.h. — Freshman Lauren Jortberg placed 10th in the women’s 5-kilometer classical on Thursday at Jackson Ski Touring Center, leading all Dartmouth College skiers on the second day of the NCAA Championships. As a team, the Big Green fell back one spot into fifth place with 170 points, seven behind fourth-place Montana State.

Utah enjoyed the best showing in the cross country races, winning the men’s 10K race while placing second in the women’s to amass 165.5 points and surge into the overall lead with 301.5. Denver moved into second (265), and Colorado surged into (240) on the strength of its team win in the women’s 5K.

Racers endured blustery conditions throughout the day, beginning with the women’s 5K. Jortberg supplied the best Dartmouth time in 15:44.2, which beat out Montana State’s Anika Miller by three-tenths of a second. She finished as high as she did despite falling down twice during the race. Fellow freshman Abby Drach was the first Big Green skier to begin in the staggered start, and though she was a bit under the weather, she trudged through to finish up in 16:36.6, good for 27th place. Sophomore Lydia Blanchet was the other skier competing for the Green (16:57.7, 34th).

Colorado’s Petra Hincicova won the gold by nearly 20 seconds (14:55.1). Utah’s Merete Myrseth was second (15:14.2) and Vermont’s Alayna Sonnesyn third (15:15.3). Colorado collected the most points (94) as a team, while. Dartmouth tallied 25 points, tying with New Mexico for seventh.

The conditions did not improve by the time the men started at 11:30 a.m., as the wind continued to whip through the course. Big Green senior Fabian Stocek posted the eighth-fastest time on the first of two laps, but then struggled a bit on the second to fall back into 12th place in 27:17.4, third best among the skiers from the East. Teammate Luke Brown finished in 27:21.0 (14th), while fellow junior Callan DeLine was 29th at 28:05.0.

Utah’s Martin Bergstroem won by more than 25 seconds in 25:33.1, and teammate Martin Mikkelsen was third (26:25.7), sandwiched around Denver’s Dag Frode Trolleboe (second, 25:59.9). The Pioneers were the lone team to place all three skiers in the top 10, but it wasn’t enough to catch Utah, which scored 89.5 points to just nip Denver’s 87. The Big Green finished sixth with 38 points.

The alpine skiers will take to the slopes today for the slalom at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, N.H., beginning with the women at 9 a.m.