WATERVILLE, Maine -- Friday marked the first women's 20K freestyle race in collegiate skiing history and Bates Nordic senior captain Olivia Skillings led the way for the Bobcats, placing a career-best 21st out of 80 racers. 

Skillings (Portland, Maine) raced to the finish in 1:00:31.6, good for 23 carnival points and 10 NCAA points. First-year Marli Damp (Lake Placid, N.Y.) impressed in her collegiate debut, just missing a top 30 finish, coming in 34th place with a time of 1:02:51.6. Damp earned the team 13 carnival points for her efforts. Sophomore Olivia Cuneo (St. George, Vt.) turned in the best performance of her collegiate career, placing 41st with a time of 1:03:44.3, good for 10 carnival points.

The Bates women placed 10th in their race with 46 combined points while the men combined for 49 points, good for ninth place.

Junior Zander Martin (York, Maine) paced the Bates men in their 20K skate, finishing a career-best 20th with a time of 53:01, good for 23 carnival points and 11 NCAA points. Junior Eli Grossman (South Burlington, Vt.) missed out on a top 30 finish by about 25 seconds, placing a career-best 31st in 54:51, earning 16 carnival points for Bates. Sophomore Cal Schrupp (Gilford, N.H.) rounded out the scoring in 41st place, good for 10 carnival points.

The Bates Nordic and alpine skiing teams combined for 180 points on day one, good for ninth place out of 14 schools. Bates Nordic skiing's 5K classic on Saturday has been postponed to a later to-be-determined date due to high winds.