nordic skiing

Jan. 30: The St. Lawrence University men's and women's Nordic ski teams opened competition at the 2009 UNH Carnival on Friday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Bartlett, NH. Junior Ben Knowles was the top St. Lawrence finisher with an 18th place showing in the finals of the men's Classic Sprints, while Kristen Bednar finished in 32nd position in the finals of the women's race.

In the Classic Sprints, all of the competitors run a prologue race of 1.4 kilometers to earn a seed. The top 36 seeds on each side earn a spot in the finals and race again for the individual championship.

Knowles was the 28th qualifier on the men's side with a time of 3:34.75, but moved up ten spots in the finals to 18th overall. He was one of four St. Lawrence men's skiers to advance in the top-36, including juniors Zach Wetherell, Bryan Pepper and Eric Wolcott. Wetherell moved up four spots in the finals to 21st overall while Pepper qualified in 20th but landed in 26th in the finals. The trio earned 63.0 points and gave St. Lawrence a seventh place showing on the men's side.

Wolcott was St. Lawrence's highest finisher in the qualifying race with an impressive run of 3:26.81, landing him in seventh place out of 82 competitors. However, he struggled in the finals and finished in 31st position.

First year student Teo Jackson (45th, 3:39.51) and sophomores Steven Vargo (48th, 3:40.82) and Kyle Marvinney (67th, 3:49.31) failed to qualify for the men's Classic Sprints' finals.

Jan. 24: Senior captain Kristen Bednar turned in a solid 14th place finish on Saturday in the Women's 15K Mass Start Freestyle event, while junior Eric Wolcott was the top St. Lawrence finisher on the men's side in 18th place in the 20K Free. Both the men's and women's squads finished in seventh place in the event which concluded the 2009 Bates Carnival.

Bednar, who has been one of the Saints' top skiers since her arrival to campus, continued to post impressive finishes with a time of 47:39.1 on Saturday. She was joined in the team scoring by rookie Caroline Carpenter and junior Johannah Ludington, who finished in 26th and 27th places respectively. Carpenter raced in a time of 49:42.4 while Ludington was only 1.3 seconds behind.

Other St. Lawrence representatives in the women's 15K Free included sophomore Elizabeth Hayden (40th, 51:06.2), first-year student Leah Hart (62nd, 53:54.6) and sophomores Sophie Allen (65th, 54:02.0), Caitlin Smith (69th, 54:54.3) and Hannah James (74th, 55:59.1).

Wolcott, who picked up his career-best finish on Friday in the Classic race, continued to impress with his second straight top-20 finish on Saturday. The Concord, NH native finished the 20K Free in a time of 53:53.2 for 18th position overall out of 93 competitors.

Senior captain Ben Knowles was the next St. Lawrence finisher in 27th place behind a time of 54:48.2, while junior Zach Wetherell rounded out the team's scorers by closing in 34th place in a time of 55:51.7.

Jan. 23: The 2009 Carnival season got underway on Friday morning, as the St. Lawrence University men's and women's Nordic ski teams competed in the classic races at the Bates Carnival. Senior captain Ben Knowles posted his best collegiate finish with a fourth place showing in the men's 10K Classic, leading the team to a podium finish on the opening day.

Knowles completed the course at Black Mountain in Rumford, ME in a time of 27:07.4, earning his third career top-10 finish. Joining Knowles in the scoring were juniors Eric Wolcott and Zach Wetherell. Wolcott finished in a time of 27:35.4, landing in a career-best 11th position while Wetherell, who missed all of 2008, came back strong with a 17th place showing (28:05.2).

The trio's team total came to 98.0 points, six ahead of Bates College for third place in the event. Dartmouth College won the men's 10K Classic with a total of 128.0 points, followed by UVM with 104.0.

Sophomore Steven Vargo finished in 28:39.6, good enough for 33rd place out of 96 total competitors. First year students Teo Jackson (30:29.7) and Adam Terko (30:34.0) were also impressive in their first collegiate races, landing in 64th and 65th places, respectively.

Also competing on the men's side on Friday were junior Bryan Pepper (66th, 30:34.9), sophomore Kyle Marvinney (70th, 30:46.1), rookie Ben Ogden (84th, 32:08.0) and sophomore Tyler Hendrickson (93rd, 33:57.0).

Dec. 5: St. Lawrence University senior captains Ben Knowles and Kristen Bednar will look to lead the Saints' men's and women's Nordic ski teams to successful 2009 season. Though the teams do not begin the Carnival season until January, their training is underway and positive results have begun to show.

"I think this fall has been one of our best in terms of effort and preparation since I began coaching here," said head Nordic coach Ethan Townsend. "We've had a great training camp in Quebec over Thanksgiving and the team seems ready to dive into the racing season."

The men's Nordic squad is consistently seen as a contender across the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA), though this year's team does lack a bit of experience heading into action. Knowles, who has been training with the Sun Valley Team in Ketchum, ID throughout the fall, will return to the squad for the 2009 spring term. The Cumberland, ME native, who will also compete in 2010 due to a medical red-shirt, is expected to continue his strong results from last season, with a focus on being a consistent figure in the top-10.