NEWRY, Maine -- Seniors Marat Washburn and Jaelie Hovey led the way for the Bates alpine skiing team in the giant slalom on Friday, as the Bates Carnival got underway at Sunday River.

Washburn (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) had the best finish of any Bobcat, taking 20th out of 85 competitors with a two-run combined time of 2:32.01, good for 22 carnival points and 11 NCAA points. He was one of two top-30 finishers for the Bates men's team, as senior captain Kyle Kagan (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) recorded a two-run combined time of 2:34.04, enough for 28th place. Kagan picked up 17 carnival points and three NCAA points for his efforts.

First-year Evan Gramas (Morrisville, Vt.) rounded out the scoring for the Bobcats in 34th place with his two-run combined time of 2:34.55, enough for 13 carnival points.

On the women's side, Hovey (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) paced Bates with her two-run combined time of 2:39.45, landing her in 28th place in the field of 79 skiers. Hovey earned Bates 18 carnival points and picked up three NCAA points. Sophomore Juliette Hoder (Stowe, Vt.) and senior captain Kenzie Arnott (Stowe, Vt.) rounded out the scoring for the women's team in 37th and 44th place respectively.

Combined, the Bates alpine and Nordic skiing teams scored 219 points on Friday, putting the Bobcats in sixth place out of 14 teams entering Saturday's action.

The alpine skiing team returns to Sunday River Saturday at 9 a.m. for the slalom to wrap up the Bates Carnival.