RIPTON, Vt. - Saint Michael's College women's Nordic skiing sophomore Izzy Quam (Stillwater, Minn./Mounds Park Academy) and first-year Astrid Bakke (Nedre Høvik, Norway/Dønski VGS) both qualified for freestyle sprint heats on Friday at the opening day of the Saint Michael's Carnival at the Rikert Outdoor Center.
Only two Purple Knight women had ever qualified for sprint heats - necessitating a top-30 showing during the qualifier race - in the modern history of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA), since 1993-94, and never in the same event.
CARNIVAL FACTS
- Bakke and Quam joined junior Grace Castonguay (2022 University of Vermont Carnival) and Emma Barnes '18 (2016 Bates College Carnival) as the only Saint Michael's women to qualify for heats in a sprint event. Daniel Sandberg '09 (2007 Williams College Carnival) is the lone Purple Knight male to turn the feat.
- Bakke finished 20th overall in the event, the best placement by a Purple and Gold woman since Lauren Fereshetian '10 was 18th in the 10K classic on Feb. 8, 2009, at the UVM Carnival.
- Quam placed 27th, as two Purple Knight women were among the top 30 in the same event for the first time since Hege Vethe '98 (8th) and Emilie Mahood '97 (25th) in the Middlebury College Carnival 5K freestyle on Feb. 23, 1996, at the same venue as Friday.
- Saint Michael's stands 11th out of 11 schools following the first day of the carnival with 77 points, just short of Saint Lawrence University (89). Thanks to Bakke and Quam, the women netted 10th-place points (46), narrowly trailing ninth-place Saint Lawrence (47), eighth-place Bates (54) and seventh-place Williams (58).
- The Nordic races were originally scheduled to take place at Sleepy Hollow in Huntington, while Alpine races were moved to the weekend of Feb. 3-4 at Smugglers' Notch Resort in Jeffersonville.
WOMEN'S LEADERS
- First-year Astrid Bakke (Nedre Høvik, Norway/Dønski VGS), 20th in freestyle sprint, 3:21.17 qualifier time
- Career-high finish
- Took fifth among six skiers in the fourth quarterfinal heat
- Stood 22nd after morning qualifier race
- Sophomore Izzy Quam (Stillwater, Minn./Mounds Park Academy), 27th, 3:20.38 qualifier time
- Career-high finish
- Took sixth among six skiers in the first quarterfinal heat
- Stood 20th after morning qualifier race
- Junior Katie Culliton (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls), 72nd, 3:43.41
- Junior Lily Sabol (Hopkinton, N.H./Hopkinton), 78th, 3:50.18
- Senior Grace Erholtz (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd), 79th, 3:55.18
- First-year Jocelyn Sommers (Dalton, Mass./Wahconah Regional), 80th, 3:56.43
- Junior Cambelle Nutting (Vassalboro, Maine/Maranacook Community), 81st, 4:08.05
MEN'S LEADERS
- Senior Joey Del Toro (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge), 39th, 2:58.57
- Senior Gaelan Boyle-Wight (Newry, Maine/Telstar Regional), 47th, 2:59.87
- First-year Mitchell Townsend (Gilford, N.H./Gilford), 52nd, 3:00.48
- First-year Theo Castonguay (Jackson, N.H./Kennett), 62nd, 3:03.16
- First-year Ian Morse (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East), 77th, 3:10.02
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S EVENT
- Saturday as host of Day 2 of the Saint Michael's Carnival, 10 a.m.
