LEWISTON, Maine — The Middlebury College ski team finished third at the season’s first winter carnival, hosted by Bates this past weekend. Vermont won the event with 914 points, followed by Dartmouth (854), Middlebury (720) and New Hampshire (706). Alpine events were contested at Sunday River while the Nordic racers competed at Black Mountain. Middlebury returns to action this weekend at the UVM Carnival.
On day one, the Panther women’s Nordic skiers placed second on the 15-kilometer classic course. Middlebury’s Heather Mooney won the event with a time of 49:33, while Kelsey Phinney finished 10th in 50:02, and Stella Holt was 11th (50:11).
On the men’s side, Patrick McElravey led the Panthers in 27th (1:02.42), Adam Luban was 28th (1:02.48), and Evan Weinman was 30th (1:02.50).
On the slope, the Middlebury men took first and third in the giant slalom in winning the event. Rob Cone led the field with a combined time of 2:10.14, while Christopher McKenna was third in 2:11.27. Rounding out the team’s scorers was Ghassan Gedeon Achi in 13th (2:13.30).
Mary Sackbauer led the Panther women in GS, taking 11th in 2:16.21. Kara Shaw was next for Middlebury in 24th (2:17.56), followed by Elle Gilbert in 25th (2:17.59).
On day two, Mooney earned her second win of the weekend, finishing in 15:52 to take home the title in the 5K freestyle race. Phinney was next for Middlebury, finishing fifth (14:22), while Holt took 10th in 14:44 as the Panthers won the event.
The men’s Nordic team saw its top effort come from Luban, who covered the 10K free course in 24:55, finishing in ninth place. McElravey came in at 25:13 to finish 14th, and Jack Steele rounded out the Panther scorers in 32nd (26:21).
On the alpine slopes, Cone finished second in the slalom by 0.03 second (1:44.78). Christopher McKenna took 12th (1:46.12), while Colin Hayes was 18th (1:46.78).
Sackbauer took ninth in the women’s slalom in 1:51.20. Shaw was 18th in 1:52.68, while Elle Gilbert finished 22nd (1:53.66).