CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine -- Bates College senior Sylvan Ellefson (Vail, Colo.) wrapped up his excellent senior carnival season with a fifth-place finish in the 20K Mass Start Free Technique Race at the Colby Carnival on Saturday.

Ellefson finished the race in 54:32.6, only 2.2 seconds behind first-place Simeon Hamilton of Middlebury. He was followed by senior teammate Sam Evans-Brown (Gilmanton Iron Works, N.H.) in 14th place at 56:12.6 and junior Harry Poole (Yarmouth, Maine) in 28th at 57:39.0. The Bates men placed fourth out of 11 teams in the event.

The Bates' combined alpine and Nordic ski teams finished the carnival in seventh place out of 12 teams, with 566 points, ahead of St. Lawrence (551) and looking up at Williams (589).

The Bates women came in eighth out of 11 teams in the women's 15K Mass Start Freestyle race. Sophomore Natalie Ruppertsburger (Plainfield, N.H.) led the Bobcats in 23rd place with a time of 51:06.3, followed by sophomore Megan McClelland (Keene Valley, N.Y.) in 26th (51:15.5) and first-year Beth Taylor (Norwich, Vt.) in 29th (51:27.5).

Friday Recap

The Bates men's Nordic team continued their excellent skiiing in the first event of the Colby Carnival today. Senior captain Sylvan Ellefson (Vail, Colo.) exerted his skiing dominance again today placing fifth out of 61 competitors in the men's 10K Classic in a time of 32:44.8. Ellefson has consistenly been placing in the top ten all season in Nordic events. Last year, Ellefson earned his first All-American honors after finishing fourth in the 10K Free Technique race at the NCAA Championships in Bozeman, Montana.

Not to be outdone, Harry Poole raced to his best finish of the season coming in 10th place in a time of 33.42.2. Rounding out the top three point-scorers for Bates was senior Tim Whiton (Portland, Maine)  who finished strong with a 15th-place finish in a time of 34.39.3.

After the men's 10K Classic, the Bates men sit in third place out of 10 teams with 100 points. The Bobcats only trail Middlebury (113) and Dartmouth (135).

In the women's 5K Classic, junior Abby Samuelson (Freeport, Maine) led the way for the Bates women with a solid 17th-place finish out of 60 competitors with a time of 21:53.8. Natalie Ruppertsberger was next for the Bobcats in 23rd-place with a time of 22:12.1. Rounding out the point-scorers for Bates was Beth Taylor with a 26th-place finish with a time of 22:21.5 just 9.4 seconds behind teammate Ruppertsberger.

View complete carnival results at http://www.eisaskiing.org/BART/Results09/mc09.htm.