Hubbard leads Nordic men’s contingent at Colby Carnival
SUGARLOAF, Maine — The Bates College Nordic and alpine ski teams placed sixth out of 11 teams at the season-opening Colby College Winter Carnival over the weekend at Sugarloaf USA with 428 points, ahead of St. Lawrence (392), Colby (340), St. Michael’s (154), Bowdoin (109) and UMaine-Presque Isle (55), and behind winner University of Vermont (639), Middlebury (624), Dartmouth (614), University of New Hampshire (533) and Williams (471).
Bates’ Nordic team saw its best results in the men’s 20K free technique race held Saturday, with a fifth-place team finish led by senior Seth Hubbard (Farmington, Maine), who came in sixth overall out of 99 competitors in 57:19.4. Hubbard was followed by first-year teammates Sylvan Ellefson (Vail, Colo.) in 59:12.2 (16th place), senior Dan Johnson (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) in 1:01:15.9 (31st), first-year Connor Cushman (Portland, Maine) in 1:01:22.8 (33rd) and sophomore Matt Dunlap (Farmington, Maine) in 1:01:26.8 (34th).
The Bates women’s Nordic team finished eighth in the 15K free technique race, led by junior Kaitlyn McElroy (Bethel, Maine), who was 24th overall out of 70 competitors in 55:50.7. McElroy was followed in 31st place by first-year Haleigh Armstrong (Vail, Colo.) in 57:47.5, and by junior Emily Poole (Yarmouth, Maine) in 34th at 58:00.9. Junior Lauren Jacobs (Winthrop, Maine) came in 48th, in 59:36.1, and first-year Gretchen Grebe (Carbondale, Colo.) was 61st in 1:02:07.1.
The Bates College men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams each stood in sixth place at the conclusion of the classic sprints Friday, the first day of the Colby Carnival.
The Bates women earned 53 points to place behind Vermont (94), Dartmouth (84), Middlebury (67), Williams (58) and New Hampshire (53), and ahead of Colby (51), Bowdoin (41), St. Lawrence (38) and UMaine-Presque Isle (7).
The Bates men collected 54 points, trailing Middlebury (90), Vermont (88), Dartmouth (72), New Hampshire (72) and Williams (65), while staying ahead of Colby (43), St. Lawrence (27), Bowdoin (22), St. Michael’s (19) and UMPI (10).
McElroy led the way for the Bobcat women with a 13th-place finish of 2:26.64. Following McElroy were first-years Armstrong, who finished 20th (2:30.56), and Nicole Ritchie (East Dummerston, Vt.), who came in 31st (2:33.57).
Jacobs finished 59th (2:41.73); Grebe was 63rd (2:44.68) and Poole (Lewiston, Maine) was 68th (2:48.60).
On the men’s side, Dunlap (Farmington, Maine) took 21st for Bates with a time of 2:06.31, just ahead of three teammates: Hubbard, who was 24th (2:04.63), Ellefson, who was 25th (2:05.36), and Johnson, who was 35th (2:07.86). First-year Dylan Mogk (Bozeman, Mont.) came in 59th (2:11.67), and Cushman was 70th (2:16.02).