RIPTON, Vt. -- Bates Nordic junior captain Olivia Cuneo advanced to the women's semifinals, and a pair of Bobcats advanced to the men's quarterfinals, highlighting the 1.2K skate sprint Friday at the Saint Michael's Carnival, hosted by Middlebury at Rikert Nordic Center. 

Cuneo (St. George, Vt.) ripped off a time of 3:16.88 in the morning qualifiers, advancing her to the quarterfinals. She was one of just 12 skiers to earn a spot in the semifinals, taking eighth place overall out of 84 skiers, earning 33 carnival points for Bates. First-year Liza Bell (Putney, Vt.) and sophomore Nina Chosy (Madison, Wis.) also tallied carnival points for Bates, with Bell finishing in 38th place with her time of 3:27.72 and Chosy finishing in 46th place in 3:29.81. Bell earned 12 carnival points and Chosy picked up nine. Another Bobcat who had a strong skate was sophomore Eliza Skillings (North Yarmouth, Maine), who was not designated as one of six potential point scorers for Bates, but turned in the second-best performance, finishing in 35th place with her time of 3:27.36. 

On the men's side, junior Cal Schrupp (Gilford, N.H.) raced to the finish in the morning qualifier in 2:50.89, advancing to the quarterfinals as one of the top-30 performers. He ended up in 15th place out of 82 competitors, good for 26 carnival points. Sophomore Mathias Boudreau-Golfman (Londonderry, Vt.) joined Schrupp in the quarterfinals with his qualifier time of 2:53.51. He ended up earning 19 carnival points with his 26th place showing. Senior captain Sam Delamere (Fairbanks, Alaska) rounded out the scoring for the men in 34th place with his qualifier time of 2:56.84, good for 15 carnival points. 

The Bates women and men combined for 114 points in the sprint races, eighth most out of the 14 EISA schools. Bates is back in action Saturday when the Bobcats compete in the 15K classic mass start. The women race at 10am and the men start at 11:30am.