Max Millslagle '17 races to score points for the second straight day for the Bates men's Nordic ski team at the NCAA East Regionals on Feb. 22, 2014. (Ian Nesbitt/EISA)
RIPTON, Vt. -- A trio of first-year skiers led the Bates women's Nordic ski team as a unit in the 15K women's freestyle race, as the EISA carnival season concluded with the NCAA East Regional Championships on Saturday.
Bates' Nordic and alpine ski teams scored a combined 394 points to place seventh out of 15 teams at the Middlebury Carnival.
Up next for Bates are the NCAA National Collegiate Skiing Championships with Nordic events at Soldier Hollow in Utah on March 6th and 8th, and Bates figures to be represented by at least one male and one female. Junior Hallie Grossman (South Woodstock, Vt.) ranks ninth in the East overall, including seventh in classical races. First-year Sadie James (Avon, Maine) is the second-ranked Bates woman, in 29th overall. Senior Jordan Buetow (Fairbanks, Alaska) is Bates' top-ranked male in 18th, followed in 25th by senior Sean Woods (Gypsum, Colo.).
Laurel Fiddler (Lake Crowley, Calif.) led the Bates women on Saturday by placing 23rd among 62 women with a time of 42:07.4. James followed in 28th (42:51.2) and Tara Humphries (North Yarmouth, Maine) followed up her outstanding eighth-place finish in Friday's 5K classical race by placing 31st on Saturday in 43:17.6.
Woods paced the Bates men in 31st place out of 66, in 47:17.3. First-year Max Millslagle (Bend, Ore.) was 32nd (47:19.9) and Buetow took 34th (47:32.8).
Friday Recap
Humphries led a stellar effort by the Bates women's Nordic ski team in the 5K classical race at the Middlebury Carnival, which doubles as the NCAA East Regional Championships.
Humphries placed a season-best eighth out of 68 competitors in the race, covering the course in 17:51.5. James placed 14th, also a season-best, in 18:12.0, and sophomore Gracie Wright (Rutland, Vt.) came in 20th in 18:19.5 to round out Bates' scoring. Grossman placed 26th (18:39.0).
The Bates trio combined for 83 points, placing a season-high third among 12 teams as a unit and trailing only Dartmouth (127) and Vermont (125).
Buetow led Bates in the men's 10K classical race, finishing 22nd out of 68 men in 29:55.5. First-year Nathan Moreau (Falmouth, Maine) came in 45th (31:16.5) and sophomore Corky Harrer (Minneapolis, Minn.) completed the men's squad's scoring in 50th (31:31.9). Three Bates teammates trailed right behind Harrer, with senior Alex Hamilton (Truckee, Calif.) in 51st, Woods in 53rd and Millslagle 54th.
