RIPTON, Vt. - Sophomore Sam Friday's (Carbondale, Colo./Roaring Fork) career-high ninth-place finish in the 7.5K classic highlighted the Saint Michael's College Nordic skiing team's opening day at the two-day Middlebury College Carnival on Friday at Rikert Outdoor Center. The event triples as the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) Championship and NCAA East Regional Championship.
 
CARNIVAL FACTS

• The Purple Knight men scored fifth-place points (81), within five of fourth-place University of New Hampshire.
• The women claimed eighth (51), only five short of seventh-place Colby College.
• Between the men's and women's Nordic skiers, Saint Michael's took sixth out of 11 schools with 132 points. The Purple and Gold was just eight points away from fifth-place Bowdoin College.
• Nordic and Alpine combined to score seventh-place points among 14 schools on Friday, with 218. The College is 24.5 points shy of fifth-place Colby.

MEN'S LEADERS

• Friday, 9th in 7.5K classic, 22:04.4
  • Career-high finish
  • 1st career top-10 finish
• Junior Oliver Miatke (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East), 19th, 22:27.1
  • 12th career top-20 finish
• Sophomore Daniel McCollor (Wayzata, Minn./Wayzata), 26th, 22:41.9
• Junior Henrik Wist (Trondheim, Norway/Heimdal VGS), 27th, 22:42.4
• Junior Michael Brännare-Gran (Haslum, Norway/Dønski VGS), 32nd, 22:56.0
• Junior Andrew Scanio (Lake Placid, N.Y./Lake Placid), 42nd, 23:25.0

WOMEN'S LEADERS

• Junior Zoe Devine (Ely, Minn./Memorial), 28th in 7.5K classic, 26:32.1
• Sophomore Jersey Miller (Minneapolis, Minn./Saint Louis Park), 33rd, 26:42.1
• First-year Naida Hutchinson (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School), 46th, 27:29.7
• Junior Evelyn Hudrlik (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake Area), 51st, 28:16.3
• Sophomore Keely Hendricks (Vail, Colo./Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy), 52nd, 28:21.7
• Junior Fran Peterson (Barron, Wis./Barron), 58th, 28:36.6

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S EVENT

• Saturday at Middlebury Carnival, 10 a.m.
• The event triples as the EISA Championship and the NCAA East Regional Championship.