HANOVER, N.H -- In the performance of her career to date, Bates Nordic skiing senior captain Olivia Cuneo finished in second place out of 92 competitors in the 1.3K freestyle Friday at the Dartmouth Carnival.

Cuneo (St. George, Vt.) set the tone early in the qualifier, tallying the second-fastest time in the field at 2:59.79. Then she ripped off a mark of 2:55.06 in the quarterfinals, the fastest time among the remaining skiers. Cuneo kept going in the semifinals, finishing in 3:01.63, first in her heat. She advanced to the six-person championship final, and in a thrilling race, took second to the University of Vermont's Marielle Ackermann in 3:02.43. It was a photo-finish with Ackermann crossing the line in 3:02.16.

Cuneo's runner-up performance was good for 47 carnival points and 80 NCAA points. It's the best finish for a Bates skier at a carnival race since Sadie James '17 won the 5K classic at the Bates Carnival in 2017.
 

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But Cuneo wasn't the only Bobcat to shine on Friday. Senior captain Cal Schrupp (Gilford, N.H.) finished in the top 10 as well, taking seventh out of 82 competitors in the men's 1.3K freestyle race. In the qualifier, Schrupp finished in eighth with a time of 2:34.10. Then he won his quarterfinal heat in 2:32.26. In the semifinals, Schrupp raced to the line in 2:35.33, missing a spot in the six-person final by less than a second. Schrupp picked up 35 carnival points and 40 NCAA points.

First-year Wyatt Teaford (Peru, Vt.) had the next-best performance for the Bobcats, finishing in 20th place in the men's 1.3K freestyle. He was 23rd in the initial qualifying heats, recording a time of 2:38.19. He came in fourth in his quarterfinal heat with a mark of 2:34.54, earning 22 carnival points and 13 NCAA points. Junior Mathias Boudreau-Golfman (Londonderry, Vt.) rounded out the scoring for the men's team in 37th place, earning 12 carnival points.

First-year Rosalie Brown (Burlington, Vt.) and junior Katie Watt (Concord, N.H.) both finished in the top 30 in the women's race, helping the Bobcats finish in fourth place overall out of 11 teams in the field. Brown recorded a time of 3:13.45 in the qualifier and Watt finished in 3:14.25, enough for a spot in the quarterfinals for both skiers. Brown ended up recording 18 carnival points and three NCAA points for a 28th-place finish and Watt picked up 16 carnival points and one NCAA point for coming in 30th.

The Bates men's and women's Nordic teams combined for 150 points on Friday, just 10 points behind third-place, and host, Dartmouth. The Bobcats finished five points ahead of both Williams and Bowdoin, who tied for fifth. 

The Bobcats are back in action Saturday morning when they compete in the 15K classic to wrap up the Dartmouth Carnival.