The Bates Nordic teams celebrate winning the Chummy Broomhall Cup. (Steve Fuller/Flying Point Road)
RUMFORD, Maine -- Senior Sadie James became the first Bates women's Nordic skier since 2003 to win an Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association carnival race and the Bobcat Nordic ski teams combined to take home the Chummy Broomhall Cup Friday at the Bates Carnival.
The Chummy Broomhall Cup is given annually to the top Maine collegiate Nordic ski team based on the combined men's and women's scores in the classical technique races.
The Bates women finished second out of 12 schools in the five-kilometer classical technique race on Friday, scoring 94 carnival points. The men compiled 63 carnival points in the 10K classical technique race.
The Bobcats' two-team combined total of 157 carnival points put them in fifth place out of 12 schools overall, well ahead of every Maine school in the field, including seventh place Colby, eighth place Maine-Presque Isle and ninth place Bowdoin.
James (Avon, Maine) is the first Bates Nordic skier to win an EISA carnival race since Sylvan Ellefson '09 in 2009. The last Bates women's Nordic skier to win an EISA carnival race was Haley Johnson '06 in 2003.
"Honestly, I'm still trying to process what this win means," James said. "For me, having this win be at my last carnival, let alone the Bates Carnival, is so, so special."
James, who represented Bates last year at the NCAA Championships, raced to the finish Friday in 16:05.21, the fastest in the field of 65 and more than 20 seconds faster than runner-up Alayna Sonnesyn of the University of Vermont. James earned the maximum 50 carnival points and 100 NCAA points.
"I have a long history with Black Mountain--growing up in Maine, I've been racing here since middle school," James said, "It's always been one of my favorite courses and venues to race at."
Senior captain Halie Lange (Brattleboro, Vt.) finished in 19th place, earning 23 carnival points and 12 NCAA points. Senior Laurel Fiddler (Crowley Lake, Calif.) came in right behind Lange with a 21st place finish, earning 21 carnival points and 10 NCAA points.
On the men's side, junior Parker McDonald (Wolcott, Colo.) paced the Bobcats with a 17th place finish out of 68 collegiate skiers with a time of 30:51.58 in the 10K classical technique race. Senior Nathan Moreau (Falmouth, Maine) and senior co-captain Max Millslagle (Bend, Ore.) came in 29th and 30th place respectively. Moreau tallied 19 carnival points and two NCAA points. Millslagle earned 18 carnival points and one NCAA point.
The Bobcat Nordic ski teams combined with the alpine ski teams to finish day one of the Bates carnival with 239 carnival points, good for seventh place out of 16 schools.
Friday's 5K classical technique race was an individual start, so James didn't know she'd won until after everyone finished.
"I had coaches, teammates, and spectators telling me I was having a great race, but I didn't know what that meant," James said. "I was hoping that meant a top five! I got my first split at about 4.5 K, climbing High School Hill. At the finish, I heard them say I broke into the lead and I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of, 'wait, what?'"
