First-year Sage Grossi turned in an outstanding debut for the Bates Nordic skiing teams on Friday, placing seventh out of 98 competitors in the 1.3K freestyle at the Bates Carnival, hosted by the Bobcats at Black Mountain of Maine.
Grossi (Montpelier, Vt.) started his day by taking fourth in the qualifier, racing to the finish in 2:35.72. That qualified him for a quarterfinal race, where he placed second out of six skiers in 2:36.64. The top two finishers in each quarterfinal moved on to the semifinals, where Grossi just missed a spot in the championship final with his time of 2:30.57, less than a second away from a top six finish. Nevertheless, his seventh-place showing earned the Bobcats 35 carnival points.
Grossi also contributed to the scoring on Saturday in the 9.1K freestyle, placing 64th and earning five carnival points.
