In the performance of her career to date, Bates Nordic skiing senior captain
Olivia Cuneo finished in second place out of 92 competitors in the 1.3K freestyle Friday at the Dartmouth Carnival.
Cuneo (St. George, Vt.) set the tone early in the qualifier, tallying the second-fastest time in the field at 2:59.79. Then she ripped off a mark of 2:55.06 in the quarterfinals, the fastest time among the remaining skiers. Cuneo kept going in the semifinals, finishing in 3:01.63, first in her heat. She advanced to the six-person championship final, and in a thrilling race, took second to the University of Vermont's Marielle Ackermann in 3:02.43. It was a photo-finish with Ackermann crossing the line in 3:02.16.
Cuneo's runner-up performance was good for 47 carnival points and 80 NCAA points. It's the best finish for a Bates skier at a carnival race since
Sadie James '17 won the 5K classic at the Bates Carnival in 2017.
Then she took 15th place out of 92 competitors in the 15K classical technique race on Saturday, wrapping up her best carnival to date as a Bobcat.
A day after taking second place in the 1.3K freestyle, Cuneo (St. George, Vt.) kept the momentum going and raced to the finish in the mass start race in 55:09.5, earning 26 carnival points and 16 NCAA points.
