Gil Talbot, flyingpoint road and Ana Paradis photos

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College Nordic skiing senior Grace Castonguay (Jackson, N.H./Kennett) and first-years Evelyn Hudrlik (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake Area) and Andrew Scanio (Lake Placid, N.Y./Lake Placid) all remained on snow following their college seasons while representing the Purple Knights at international and national competitions during March.
 
Castonguay returned to Europe with Team USA to compete on the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Cup circuit before winning the sprint race at the inaugural U.S. Biathlon Collegiate National Championships, where she and Hudrlik pushed Saint Michael's to a second-place showing in the college standings. Hudrlik had also represented her country at the IBU Junior Open European Championships in February. Meanwhile, Scanio put together a solid showing recently at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Junior National Championship.
 
In mid-March, Scanio took part in the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Junior National Championship, held in his native Lake Placid, N.Y., at Mount Van Hoevenberg. Top junior athletes from 10 different divisions gathered, with Scanio among 55 U20 men entered. On March 11, Scanio opened the championship by placing 26th in the 7.5K freestyle, as well as 52nd among 153 U18/20 entrants. He took 35th in the 1.3K classic sprint two days later before wrapping up the meet with a 27th-place performance in the mass-start 15K classic on March 15. Scanio was among the Purple Knights' regular scorers during his debut season, taking one of his team's top three spots seven times.
 
A week later, Castonguay and Hudrlik competed in the U.S. Biathlon National Championships at Fort Kent Outdoor Center in Fort Kent, Maine, featuring races that also counted toward standings for the inaugural U.S. Biathlon Collegiate National Championships on March 22, when they were among a dozen collegiate student-athletes from six colleges and universities. Castonguay took second among nine in the senior women's sprint on the opening day but won the first collegiate crown along the way, only finishing behind 2022 Olympian Deedra Irwin. She raced to a time of 29:43, missing one target in prone and three in standing. Hudrlik was third of 10 in that day's youth women's sprint.
 
On March 23, Castonguay was second of nine in the senior women's pursuit, again only trailing Irwin, while Hudrlik placed third out of nine in the youth women's pursuit. Castonguay capped the championship the next day by aiding a trio to victory in the women's relay. Hudrlik was part of a fifth-place squad. The duo helped Saint Michael's finish second among six schools in the final championship standings, behind Paul Smith's College but ahead of University of Maine Fort Kent, University of Vermont, Dartmouth College and Saint Lawrence University.
 
Castonguay, who paced Saint Michael's during five of her seven college races this season, spent much of her winter traveling between home and Europe for races. She made her IBU World Cup debut in Austria in December as a member of the U.S. Biathlon Team while also regularly appearing on the IBU Cup circuit. Castonguay missed the opening carnival weekend while posting a trio of top-50 finishes in Martell, Italy, on Jan. 5-7 before collecting a top performance of 51st in the 7.5K sprint the next weekend in Ridnaun, Italy. After racing in the final five college carnivals, Castonguay returned for the final two weekends of IBU Cup action in Obertilliach, Austria, with her 46th-place outing in the 12.5K short individual event on March 7 her top individual showing.
 
Hudrlik supplemented her first winter of college skiing with a mid-season break in action as one of five women representing the United States at the IBU Junior Open European Championships in Jakuszyce, Poland. She was 76th in the 12.5K on Feb. 8, 72nd in the sprint a day later, and 57th during the mass-start 60 on Feb. 10. Hudrlik competed in five races for the Purple Knights this year, taking her team's second scoring post in the 10K freestyle on Jan. 13 at the UVM Carnival.