RIPTON — The Middlebury Union High School boys’ Nordic skiing team opened its season on Saturday with a dominant performance in a six-team meet at Rikert Nordic Center, while the Tiger girls posted some solid results in finishing third.
The Tiger boys placed all four scoring skiers in the top six of the 4-kilometer freestyle race, led by Jack Christner in first and Elvis McIntosh in second.
Mount Abraham independent Neil Guy finished third, and Tigers Lucas Palcsik and Zach Wilkerson claimed fourth and sixth, respectively. Mount Mansfield’s Jax Lubkowitz earned fifth to become the only other skier to interrupt the MUHS sweep.
MUHS won with 13 points, with Mount Mansfield (53) edging Champlain Valley (55) and Lyndon (58) for second. Colchester (150) and BFA-St. Albans (161) trailed.
On the girls’ side Phoebe Hussey and Malia Hodges finished ninth and 14th, respectively to pace the Tigers. Isabel Olson (22nd) and Maddy Stowe (29th) rounded out the scorers as the Tigers finished with 74 points.
CVU (24) nipped MMU (28) for the girls team victory, followed by MUHS, Colchester (123), BFA-St. Albans (141) and Lyndon (147) rounded out the field. Ava Thurston from the non-scoring Harwood team skied to the individual win.
Despite warm weather MUHS Coach Linnea Manley said Rikert’s snowmaking capacity and the hard work of center personnel made the Tigers’ opening meet — their only home meet of the season until possibly state championship events — a success, even though the races were shortened to 4K for varsity and 2K for JV and middle school competition.
“Thankfully Rikert is great at what they do and had a solid course for us for our first race,” Manley said.

BOYS’ VARSITY RESULTS
The top 10 skiers in the varsity boys’ race and all the Tiger skiers and their results were:
1. Jack Christner, MUHS, 11:23.6.        
2. Elvis McIntosh, MUHS, 11:42.2.
3. Neil Guy, Mt. Abe, 12:14.1.
4. Lucas Palcsik, MUHS, 12:18.8.
5. Jax Lubkowitz, MMU, 12:29.5.         
6. Zach Wilkerson, MUHS, 12:32.1.
7. Jasper Henderson, LUHS, 12:32.3.     
8 Joseph Graziadei, Mt. Abe 12:58.2.                 
9. Gus Lunde, CVU, 13:04.5.   
10. Gavin Schaaf, CVU, 13:06.4.                       
11. Will Carpenter, MUHS, 13:29.4.                  
14. Owen Palcsik, MUHS, 13:39.2.                   
24. Tanner Harris, Mt. Abe, 14:57.0.                  
27. Gabe Cason, MUHS, 15:14.3.          
33. Lucas Nelson, MUHS, 15:53.9.                    
38. Alex Bleich, MUHS, 16:19.6.                      
42. Nicholas Suchomel, MUHS, 17:38.5.
44. Kieran Sheridan, MUHS, 18:06.1.                

GIRLS’ VARSITY RESULTS
The top 10 skiers in the varsity girls’ race and all the Tiger skiers and their results were:
1. Ava Thurston, HUHS, 12:32.7.         
2. Emma Strack, CVU, 13:11.2.
3. Rose Clayton, MMU, 13:29.2.          
4. Hattie Barker, MMU, 13:46.7.           
5. Finnegan Mittelstadt, CVU, 14:06.5.  
6. Lily Porth, MMU, 14:24.9.   
7. Emma Crum, CVU, 14:37.1.
8. Lydia Hodgeman, BFA, 15:10.0.       
9. Phoebe Hussey, MUHS, 15:12.7.       
10. Sadie Holmes, CVU, 15:22.3.                                                                                                          
14. Malia Hodges, MUHS, 15:47.6.       
22. Isabel Olson, MUHS, 17:07.6.                     
29. Maddy Stowe, MUHS, 17:52.1.                   
32. Astrid Olsen, MUHS, 18:19.6.         
46. Mary Nagy-Benson, MUHS, 20:40.9.            
49. Sofia Stefani, MUHS, 22:19.8.                     

JV GIRLS’ RESULTS
The Tigers placed two girls in the top 10 of the JV race. The winner and the Tigers’ results were:
1. Anna Arsovski, CVU, 08:54.8.                      
4. Journey LaRose, MUHS, 10:13.6.                  
7. Ellen Berg, MUHS, 10:16.0. 
31. Maggie Christner, MUHS, 13:05.6.              
32. Anna Berg, MUHS, 13:38.2.                       
39. Arianna Graham-Gurland, MUHS, 15:01.9.    
41. Dahlia Harrison-Irwin, MUHS, 15:48.8.                     
43. Mary Johnson, MUHS, 16:41.6.       
44. Megan Balparda, MUHS, 17:16.1.    
45. Seina Dowgiewicz, MUHS, 17:33.3.             
46. Vivian Ross, MUHS, 19:14.4.         

JV BOYS’ RESULTS
The Tigers placed three boys in the top 10 of the JV race. The winner and the Tigers’ results were:
1. CJ Fisher, BFA-S, 4:44.9.                
2. Ben Seaton, MUHS, 7:57.7.  
3. Trey Bosworth, MUHS, 8:08.8.                     
10. Chas Mraz, MUHS, 9:08.1. 
18. Lukas Broughton, MUHS, 10:25.2.              
19. Henry Swan, MUHS, 10:33.6.                     
23. Sasha Meyers, MUHS, 11:57.6.                   
30. Lewis Suchomel, MUHS, 14:36.9.               
32. Trystan Jones, MUHS, 15:10.6.       
33. Asan Khan, MUHS, 18:06.4.                       

MIDDLE SCHOOL RESULTS                                                 
Ten MUHS and Mt. Abe skiers competed in the middle school races, and Matthew McIntosh from Middlebury Union Middle School won the boys’ race.
The boys’ finishers were: 1. Matthew McIntosh, MUMS, 7:09.4; 3. Lorenzo Atocha, Mt. Abe, 7:35.9; 4. Baxter Harrington, MUMS, 7:37.4; 9. Colt Bagnulo, MUMS independent, 8:31.8; Jonah Howell, Mt. Abe, 8:31.8; and 16. Lucas Flinner, MUMS, 11:05.7.
The girls’ finishers were: 2. Beth McIntosh, MUMS, 5:45.8; 3. Ava Schneider, MUMS; 8:26.1; 6. Mary Harrington, MUMS; 9:07.6; 7. June Yates-Rusch, Mt. Abe, 9:28.3.