2004 Season Archives

2004 Results

2004 Summaries

SAINTS SEASON WRAPUP

Apr. 1: The St.Lawrence Nordic Ski Team had an impressive season under first-year Head Coach Ethan Townsend. Junior Angus McCusker qualified for the Nationals in both the 10K Freestyle race and the 20K Classical race but was unable to compete due to illness.

McCusker, an EISA All-East selection, led the men's nordic team with three top-finishes, including a season best 3rd place finish in the 10K Freestyle race at Dartmouth. He also posted three top-20 finishes. The men's team consistently finished in sixth or seventh place. The team's best finish came at Dartmouth with a fourth place finish.

Senior Kristen Fellows and junior Meghan Burns led the women's nordic team in 2004. Fellows posted two top-20 finishes, including a top-10 finish at the St.Lawrence Carnival. She also posted four top-30 finishes. Burns posted four top-20 finishes and four top-30 finishes. Her season high came with a 12th place finish in the 5K Freestyle at Dartmouth.

The men's and the women's team are losing just one senior each, so Coach Townsend and the Saints are returning a talented and experienced roster for 2005.

MCCUSKER UNABLE TO SKI DUE TO ILLNESS

Mar 13: Junior Angus McCusker who was forced to drop out of the 10K Freestyle Nordic race at the 2004 NCAA Championship in Truckee, Calif. on Thursday morning, was unable to compete in the 20K Classical Saturday morning.

The Buckland, Mass. native visited the doctor and was diagnosed with a severe sinus infection and bronchitis. The doctor warned McCusker that if he skied on Saturday, he could develop pneumonia. McCusker heeded the doctor's advise and decided not to risk racing.

ILLNESS FORCES MCCUSKER OUT OF RACE AT NATIONALS

Mar 11: Junior Angus McCusker of the St.Lawrence men's Nordic ski team competed in the 10K Freestyle Nordic race at the 2004 NCAA Championship in Truckee, Calif. at the Auburn Ski Club Thursday afternoon. McCusker was unable to finish the race due to illness.

McCusker developed a severe head cold and began the race, but by the second lap was unable to breathe and made the decision to drop out. He will rest and try to recuperate in order to compete in the 20K Classical races on Saturday morning.

MCCUSKER TO SKI AT NATIONALS

Mar 1: Junior Angus McCusker of the St.Lawrence men's Nordic ski team will be competing in the 2004 NCAA Championship in Truckee, Calif. at the Auburn Ski Club.

McCusker will race in the 10K Freestyle and the 20K Classical races. The 10K Freestyle is taking place on Thurdsay, March 11 and the 20K Classical is on Saturday, March 13.

This season in the 10K Freestyle, McCusker finished third at the Darmtouth Carnival, fifth at the Williams Carnival and 13th at the Middlebury Carnival. In the 20K Classical, he finished 18th at the Middlebury Carnival.

Head Coach Ethan Townsend feels that the 10K Freestyle is McCusker's strongest, and gives him the best shot at making All-America status.

BURNS, HART LEAD SAINTS IN DAY TWO OF MIDDLEBURY CARNIVAL

Feb. 28: Meghan Burns led the women's Nordic team with a 27th place finish in the 10K Classic race with a time of 33:04.4. Michael Hart led the men's Nordic team with a 26th place finish in the 15K Classic race with a time of 44:48.7.

The women's team finished in seventh place with 84 points and the men's team finished in seventh with 81 points. With the giant slalom races still left, the St.Lawrence University ski team is in eighth place with 504 points in the final carnival of the season. Middlebury College leads the carnival with 782 points.

Rebecca Barron finished in 33rd place in the 10K Classic with a time of 33:28.7. Right behind her was Tora Olafsen in 35th with a time of 33:48.1. Erin Mallory rounded out the Saints in 44th place with a time of 35:58.4.

For the men, Angus McCusker came in at 34th with a time of 45:58.4. Right behind McCusker was Noah Noyes in 36th in 46:15.3. Kevin Hart came in 40th with a time of 46:34.9 and rounding out for the Saints was Matt Barton in 50th place in a time of 49:06.1.

MCCUSKER 13TH IN 10K FREESTYLE AT MIDDLEBURY

Feb. 27: The St.Lawrence University women's Nordic team finished in sixth place in the 5K Freestyle, while the men finished in seventh in the 10K Freestyle.

Angus McCusker continues to build on his NCAA Championship qualification with a 13th place finish in the10K Freestyle Nordic Race Friday morning. McCusker finished in 25:03.2. Noah Noyes came in at 28th in 26:23.4. Matthew Barton rounded out the scoring for the Saints with a 34th place finish with a time of 26:39.7.

Other finishers for the Saints were Michael Hart in at 42nd with a time of 27:25.6, Tyler Magnan in 46th with a time of 27:36.7 and Kevin Hart in 53rd with a time of 28:05.8. The men will compete Saturday morning in the 15K Classic Nordic race.

The women were led by a 24th place by Kristin Fellows in the 5K Freestyle Nordic race, coming in at 14:41.1. Tora Olafsen came in 28th with a time of 14:49.9. Right behind Olafsen was Meghan Burns in 30th place at 14:53.1, rounding out the scoring.

Other finishers for the Saints were Erin Mallory in 36th at 15:11.1, Rebecca Barron in 38th at 15:18.7 and Lia Prysunka in 49th at 16:03.0. The women will compete in the 10K Classic Nordic race Saturday morning.

RELAYS FINISH SIXTH AT WILLIAMS

Feb. 21: Both St. Lawrence University's men's and women's Nordic teams finished sixth in the Freestyle Sprint Relays at the Williams Winter Carnival on Saturday with both teams scoring in fifth place.

Middlebury put two teams in the top five in both the women's and men's competition and won both relays.

The Middlebury women won in 38:09.5 with the Saint team of Kristin Fellows, Rebecca Barron and Meghan Burns finishing sixth in 40:29.9. A second Saint team of Lia Prysunka, Amy Laverach and Erin Mallory was tenth in 42:04.9.

The Middlebury men won the men's freestyle sprint relay in 33:33.7 with the Saint team of Michael Hart, Noah Noyes and Tyler Magnan finishing sixth in 35:38.5, edging out teammates Kevin Hart, Matt Burton and Angus McClusker, who were seventh in 35:36.1.

Both the Saint men's and women's Nordic relays earned 58 points and the Saints finished seventh overall with 371 points, two points out of sixth in the Carnival

McCUSKER IS FIFTH AT WILLIAMS FREESTYLE, SAINT TEAMS 6TH

Feb. 20: The men’s and women’s Nordic teams each finished sixth in freestyle competition and the St. Lawrence University ski team ranks sixth after the first day of competition at the Williams College Carnival.
Angus McClusker enhanced his NCAA championship qualification with a fifth place finish in the men’s 10 kilometer freestyle Nordic race.

McCusker was clocked in 26:08.5 in a race won by Lowell Bailey of Vermont in 24:56.3. Matt Barton finished 24th in 26:08.5 and Noah Noyes was 32nd in 28:17.3 to complete the Saint men’s scoring. Tyler Magnin was 33rd in 28:20.8 and Michael Hart finished 38th in 28:46.6.

Kristin Fellows finished 19th in 31:54.2 to lead the Saint women in the 10 kilometer freestyle competition which was won by Kate Underwood of New Hampshire in 29:46.1. Meghan Burns was the second Saint skier in 38:08.8 while Erin Mallory completed the Saint scoring in 26th in 32:11.1. Rebecca Barron finished 27th in 32:21.9 and Lia Prysunka was 38th in 33:47.8.

McCUSKER, BURNS LEAD SAINTS AT DARTMOUTH

Feb. 14: St. Lawrence University junior Angus McCusker completed his best weekend of the season in Nordic competition with a 12th place finish in the 20 kilometer classic technique cross country race at the Dartmouth Carnival on Saturday.

McCusker, who was third in Friday's freestyle event, finished the 20 kilometer course in 33:55.6 to improve his best finish this season at that distance by six places. Andrew Hunter of host Dartmouth was the overall winner in 32:17.6.

Other scorers for the Saints included Michael Hart, who finished 40th in 37:05.6 and Tom Lepesqueur, who was 43rd in 37:33.7. Matthew Barton was 44th in 37:42.0 and Kevin Emblidge was 45th in 37:47.7 while Travis Wyman finished 49th in 38:43.7. A total of 53 competitors completed the race.

In the women's 15 kilometer race, Meghan Burns had her best finish of the year at that distance, improving eight spots with a 15th place finish in 28:09. Alison Crocker of Dartmouth won the competition with a 26:19.0 clocking.

Kristin Fellows, who was 24th in 28:57.3 and Rebecca Baron, 29th in 29:20.3 were the other Saint scorers while Erin Mallory finished 31st in 29:36.6 and Tora Olafsen was 41st in 30:49.2.

The Saint women's team finished seventh with 55 points in the classic technique competition while the Saint men were 8th with 40 points. Overall in the Carnival, the combined men's and women's alpine and Nordic teams finished eighth with 416.5 points in a 12-team field, just one point behind Colby. Dartmouth was the overall Carnival winner with 777 points.

McCUSKER THIRD, MEN 4TH, WOMEN 5TH AFTER FREESTYLE RACES AT DARTMOUTH

Feb. 13: Angus McCusker turned in his best finish of the season in the men's 10 kilometer freestyle technique race at the Dartmouth Carnival on Friday, finishing third in 26:10.5 in a 63-competitor field.

It was the third top ten finish this season for McCusker and his second top five finish and it helped the Saints to fourth as a team after the first Nordic event of the two-day Dartmouth Carnival.

Andrew Hunter of Dartmouth won the competition in 25:45.7 as the host Big Green captured the team title in the 10K freestyle competition with 101 points. The Saints were fourth with 71 points and stand seventh overall in the carnival after the first day of competition. Dartmouth leads after the Nordic races and the men's and women's slalom with 386 points while the Saints have 223.5, 2.5 points behind sixth place Colby.

Matthew Barton finished 22nd in 28:14 and Michael Hart was 29th in 28:32.4 to comprise the Saint scorers in the Friday race. Travis Wyman was 43rd in 29.41.8, Tom Lepesqueur was 44th in 29:47.9 and Kevin Emblidge was 51st in 30:31.4.
Meghan Burns finished 12th in 15:13.0 in the women's five kilometer freestyle and Tora Olafsen was 13th in 15:15.1 as the Saint women finished fifth with 68.5 points in a race won by Middlebury with 101 points.

Alison Crocker of Dartmouth was the individual champion in the five kilometer freestyle race covering the course at Dartmouth's Oak Hill in 14:24.9.

Kristin Fellows competed the Saint scoring with a 25th place finish in 15:39.3 while Rebecca Baron wa 29th in 15:49.5, Erin Mallory was 33rd in 15:57.6 and Lea Prysunka was 41st in 16.17.5.

The Nordic portion of the Dartmouth Carnival concludes on Saturday with a 15 kilometer classical technique race for women and a 20 kilometer classical technique race for men.

WOMEN'S RELAY FINISH IN SIXTH; MEN SEVENTH

Feb. 7: The relay team of senior Kristin Fellows and juniors Rebecca Barron and Meghan Burns finished in sixth in the 3X5 freestyle relay at the Vermont Carnival this afternoon. For the men, the team of sophomores Kevin and Michael Hart and junior Angus McCusker finished in seventh.

Fellows finished the first leg of the relay in 18:05.4, the 10th best time. Barron completed the second leg in 18:52.2 and Burns completed the last leg in 18:51.7. The second relay team was comprised of freshman Lia Prysunka, sophomore Erin Mallory and junior Tora Olafsen. The second team finished in ninth place in a total time of 57:00.5.

Kevin Hart completed the first leg in 13:25.1, Michael Hart finished the middle leg in 16:33.9 and McCusker completed the final leg in 15:29.6. The second relay team was comprised of juniors Noah Noyes and Tyler Magnan and sophomore Matthew Barton, finishing in 45:45.3. Noyes's time of 13:02.5 was the 11th best time and Kevin Hart's time was the 14th best.

The women's Nordic team finished in sixth place with 51 points and the men finished in seventh with 44 points. As a team, the Saints finished in eighth place in the carnival with 394.5 points.

MCCUSKER IN EIGHTH; BURNS IN 18TH AFTER DAY ONE AT VERMONT CARNIVAL

Feb. 6: Junior Angus McCusker turned in another strong performance with his eighth place finish in the Nordic 10K Classic. McCusker finished in 35:36.2. For the women, junior Meghan Burns turned in a top-20 finish, coming in at 18th with a time of 19:54.9 in the Nordic 5K Classic.

Also for the men, sophomore Michael Hart finished in 29th with a time of 37:26.0. Sophomore Matthew Barton rounded out the scoring with a 36th place finish in a time of 38:14.1. Junior Noah Noyes finished in 45th place with a time of 38:54.1.

For the women, senior Kristen Fellows finished in 21st with a time of 20:10.1. Junior Tora Olafsen rounded out the scoring for the Saints with a 31st place finish in 20:53.9. Freshman Lia Prysunka finished in 38th with a time of 21:13.5. Junior Rebecca Barron came in at 40th with a time of 21:22.8 and sophomore Erin Mallory finished in 42nd with a time of 21:34.1.

The men finished in sixth place with 56 points, while the women finished in seventh with 60 points. Tomorrow both teams will compete in the 3X5K Relay.

FELLOWS 9TH, McCUSKER 18TH, SAINTS 8TH IN AT SLU CARNIVAL

Jan 31: Kristin Fellows turned in a top-10 finish, with a ninth place finish at 57:09.4. Fellows finish helped push the Saint women's Nordic team to a fifth place finish with 67 points in the 15 kilometer Classic cross country race. As a team, the Saints finished in eighth place out of 13 with 274 points. For the second weekend in a row, Middlebury College won the carnival, with 561.5 points.

Also scoring for the Saints were Meghan Burns with a 23rd place finish with a time of 59:04.2 and Rebecca Barron in 24th place with a time of 59:05.4. Other finishers included Erin Mallory in 40th in 1:02.23.2. Lia Prysunka in 41st in 1:02.30.1. Amy Laverack in 56th in 1:04.55.3. Callie Douglas in 63rd in 1:06.09.5 and Atty Timothy in 68th in 1:07.50.0

Angus McCusker turned in a top-20 performance with an 18th place finish. McCusker finished in 1:05:54.41 and helped the Saint men's Nordic team to an eighth place finish with 42 points in the 20 kilometer Classic cross country race.

Other finishers for the Saint men included Kevin Hart in 33rd in 1:08:29.51; Tom Lepesquer in 38th in 1:08:51.91, Tyler Magnan in 42nd in 1:09:45.41; Matt Barton in 43rd in 1:09:46.31; Travis Wyman, 46th in 1:10:15.00 and Kevin Emblidge in 58th in 1:13:23.91.

SAINTS FINISH IN EIGHTH AT COLBY CARNIVAL

Jan 24: The Saints Nordic Men's Ski Team finished in seventh with 44 points in the 3X5 relay while the women finished in sixth with 51 points.

For the women, the relay team of Kristin Fellows, Tora Olafsen and Meghan Burns came in eighth place with a total time of 51:20.1. Rebecca Barron, Lia Prysunka and Erin Mallory came in at 53:24.1 for 13th place.

On the men's side, the relay team of Michael Hart, Tyler Magnan and Angus McCusker finished in ninth place at a time of 44:28.0. Kevin Hart, Matthew Barton and Noah Noyes finished in 10th with a time of 45:04.9.

The Saints finished the weekend in eighth place with 400 total team points. The St. Lawrence Carnival takes place next weekend at Lake Placid.

SAINTS OPEN SEASON AT COLBY CARNIVAL

Jan 23: The Saints Nordic Ski team opened their season at the Colby Carnival this morning. In the 10k, the women finished in fifth place with 70 points. The men finished in sixth place with 62 points.

Coach Townsend has high hopes for the season after McCusker's top five finish and three women finishing in the top twenty, including two in the top 15.

Angus McCusker led the men with a fifth place finish in a time of 42:18.4. McCusker's fifth place finish is the best for a Saint since 1996. Noah Noyes finished in 31st place with a time of 45:30.1. Kevin Emblidge finished in 47:02.8 for 50th place and Kevin Hart came in at 47:15.2 for 54th place. The Saints will hit the slopes tomorrow for day two.

Kristin Fellows led the women with a 14th place finish in a time of 34:09.8. Meghan Burns came in a close 15th with a finish of 34:15.7. Tora Olafsen came in at 34:28.2 for 20th place and rounding out the scoring for the women was Erin Mallory with a time of 35:24.3 in 30th place.

Lia Prysunka came in at 37:36.6 for 61st place. Amy Laverack came in at 64th with a time of 37:51.3 and Callie Douglas came in at 73rd with a time of 40:06.6.

TOWNSEND NAMED SAINT NORDIC SKI COACH

July 28: Ethan Townsend has been named as head Nordic ski coach at St. Lawrence University and will take over the Saint Nordic program in mid-August.

Townsend, a St. Lawrence graduate and former Saint skier, replaces Jim DeFoe, who resigned to attend pharmacy school beginning this fall. DeFoe spent four seasons as coach of the Saint Nordic program which competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association.

Townsend is a 1998 graduate of St. Lawrence and earned his Masters in Education at SLU in 2001. He has been head coach of the Nordic ski team at Whitman College in Walla Wall, WA since August of 2001 and helped that team make the transition from the US Collegiate Ski Association national champions to NCAA competition in the 2002-2003 season. He also served as recruitment coordinator at Whitman, was an instructor in weight training and cross country skiing and served as co-head coach of track and field.

He was an assistant coach for the St. Lawrence Nordic team while earning his advanced degree from 1998-2001 and coached three All East Nordic skiers.