BOZEMAN, Mont. - Freshman Fredrik Sandell (Oslo, Norway/Donski Alpine) had the best giant slalom placement for a Saint Michael's College men's Alpine skier at the NCAA Championship since 2000 on Thursday, grabbing 26th at the Bridger Bowl to match the best finish ever turned in by a male Purple Knight first-year. Sandell single-handedly has the Purple Knights in 19th place among 21 squads with 14 points.

Just the fifth member of the Alpine program to ever qualify for nationals, which involves student-athletes from Divisions I, II and III, Sandell posted a two-run showing of 1:34.71 in a field of 35 racers. His second-run time of 46.52 seconds was the 11th-best finish on the day, and his overall performance left him exactly one second out of the top 12.

Sandell, who was 12th among the 18 skiers from Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) schools, had the best giant slalom showing for the Purple Knights since Keith Farnand '00 12 years ago. Sandell's 26th-place finish also matched Farnand for the best placement ever by a Saint Michael's men's freshman.

On Saturday, Sandell will compete in the slalom, which begins with the first run at 10:30 a.m. MT/12:30 p.m. ET. The second run, which kicks off at 1 p.m. MT/3 p.m. ET, concludes the championship. The Purple Knights look for their highest NCAA Championship finish since taking 19th in 2000.