NOYES POSTS BEST FINISH OF 2008 IN FREESTYLE

SPRINTS AT UVM CARNIVAL

Feb. 2: The St. Lawrence University men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams completed competition at the 2008 UVM Carnival on Saturday in the Freestyle Sprints. Both teams finished in 8th place overall, with the day’s highlights coming from senior Isaac Noyes, who recorded his best finish of the season with an 16th place showing overall.

 

Noyes, who has struggled thus far this season after narrowly missing out on an NCAA bid last season, looked impressive on Saturday, racing in a time of 2:53.26.

 

Also scoring for the men’s Nordic ski team in the Freestyle Sprints was sophomore Bryan Pepper and junior Matt McClelland. Pepper raced in a time of 3:01.29 and closed in 38th position, while McClelland was one spot behind in 41st place (3:02.06). The trio combined for 33.0 points.

 

The other two competitors on the men’s side in the event were junior Ben Knowles (45th, 3:04.31) and senior Hunter Karnedy (47th, 3:06.22). The Men’s Freestyle Sprints were won by Colby College with 87.0 points, while the individual crown was won by Dartmouth College’s Dakota Blackhorse-Von Jess in a time of 2:42.31.

 

Meanwhile, junior Kristen Bednar and senior Kalie Dunn again finished 1-2 for the Saints’ women’s squad, finishing only .05 seconds apart. Bednar barely defeated her teammate, finishing in 26th position with a time of 3:34.02, while Dunn was clocked at 3:34.07 in 27th place.

 

Completing the Saints’ scoring was sophomore Johannah Ludington, who added a 40th place finish to her resume with a time of 3:44.95, bring the team’s score to 36.0 points

 

Also participating in the Women’s Freestyle Sprints were senior Robin Brooks (42nd, 3:46.78) and first year students Sophie Allen (47th, 3:59.84) and Caitlin Smith (49th, 3:59.62).

 

The women’s event was won by Dartmouth College with 96.0 points, while the Big Green also boasted the individual champion, Ida Sargent, who raced in a winning time of 3:08.69.

 

St. Lawrence University finished in 8th place overall in the 11-team UVM Carnival, combing both Nordic and Alpine points. Middlebury College was the winner with 628.0 points, only 3.5 ahead of the host school.

 

Both the Saints’ men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams will be in action again next Friday, February 8th at the 2008 Dartmouth Carnival.

 

 

KNOWLES AND DUNN EARN SEASON-BEST

FINISHES AT UVM CARNIVAL

Feb. 1: The St. Lawrence University men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams returned to action at the UVM Carnival on Friday afternoon, where both squads competed in the 10K Classic. Junior Ben Knowles and senior Kalie Dunn were the top finishers for St. Lawrence, as each recorded their best finishes of the 2008 season.

 

Knowles, fresh off his first collegiate top-10 finish at the St. Lawrence Carnival last weekend in the 20K Classic, built off of his momentum with a 5th place overall showing on Friday in the men’s classic event. The Cumberland, ME native raced in a time of 29:42.4, under ten seconds behind the individual champion Juergen Uhl from Vermont (29:32.7).

 

For his efforts, Knowles was awarded 45.0 points towards qualifying for an NCAA Championship bid and 29.0 points towards this week’s carnival.

 

The Saints were unable to capitalize on Knowles’ career day, however, as senior Hunter Karnedy and sophomore Bryan Pepper were the team’s next two finishers in 38th and 42nd place, respectively. Karnedy earned 9.0 points for his time of 31:17.6, while Pepper collected 8.0 points with a time of 31:34.4 The three skiers landed the men’s team in 7th place overall in the 10K Classic.

 

Rounding out the Saints’ line-up in the 10K Classic on Friday were senior Isaac Noyes (43rd, 31:36.2), sophomore Eric Wolcott (44th, 31:48.7) and junior Matt McClelland (45th, 31:49.6).

 

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Dunn recorded her best finish of the young 2008 season with a 15th place showing behind a time of 35:45.5. The Yarmouth, ME native scored 22.0 points for the Saints and 16.0 points towards an NCAA Championship berth.

 

Completing the scoring for the Scarlet and Brown were junior Kristen Bednar and senior Robin Brooks, who brought the team’s total to 55.0 points and a 6th place finish overall. The duo finished back-to-back in 23rd and 24th place with times of 36:29.6 and 36:48.6, respectively.

 

Also competing for the Saints’ women’s team were sophomore Johannah Ludington (47th, 38:51.9) and rookies Sophie Allen (53rd, 40:09.3) and Caitlin Smith (59th, 40:50.5).

 

Dartmouth College won both the men’s and women’s Classic events on Friday, while Uhl and Dartmouth’s Ida Sargent won the individual titles.

 

Both Saint teams will participate in the Freestyle events tomorrow, Saturday, February 2nd at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT. Qualifying races begin at 9:00am.