NEWRY, Maine/RUMFORD, Maine - Behind freshman Fredrik Sandell's (Oslo, Norway/Donski Alpine) sixth-place giant slalom showing in his collegiate debut, the Saint Michael's College skiing teams stood 10th among 15 institutions on Friday following the first day of their season-opening Bates College Carnival. The event, which concludes tomorrow, is being held at Sunday River for the Alpine portion and Black Mountain of Maine for Nordic races.
Saint Michael's earned its highest point total for the day in the men's GS, with 66 points to take sixth place. With 136 points between the four men's and women's events, the Purple Knights trail ninth-place Harvard University by 54 heading into day two but have a sizeable lead over 11th-place Colby-Sawyer College (71).
Sandell took sixth among 64 starters in the GS behind a two-run cumulative time of 2:29.98, which left him just 0.97 seconds shy of fourth place. He trailed only a trio of University of Vermont competitors and a duo from Middlebury College. During his second run of the day, Sandell trimmed 2.86 ticks off his opening time. Senior Kevin O'Brien (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) and sophomore Tim Spangler (Summit, N.J./Summit) were the Purple Knights' other two scorers.
Junior Gabbi Hall (San Anselmo, Calif./Forest Charter School) was 23rd for the women, clocking in at 2:38.61 to come within 1.25 seconds of the top 20. Classmate Kelsey Redden (Ramsey, N.J./Northwood School) and graduate student Heidi Robbins (Mendon, Vt./Killington Mountain School/Saint Lawrence), in her first meet since transferring from Saint Lawrence University, had the next two finishes for Saint Michael's.
In the Nordic portion of the day, junior Colin Delaney (Lake Placid, N.Y./National Sports Academy) finished the 10K freestyle in a time of 29:45.8 to pace the Purple and Gold, while senior Robert Sitzer (Lenox, Mass./Lenox Memorial) and freshman Brian Vargo (Shaftsbury, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) rounded out the scorers. In the women's 5K freestyle, sophomore Gabrielle Naranja (Fort Kent, Maine/Fort Kent Community) crossed the finish line in 17:18.5, while senior Sam Martell (Georgia, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans/Saint Lawrence) and freshman Chloe Boutelle (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) also provided points.
