RUMFORD, Maine -- First-year Sage Grossi turned in an outstanding debut for the Bates Nordic skiing teams on Friday, placing seventh out of 98 competitors in the 1.3K freestyle at the Bates Carnival, hosted by the Bobcats at Black Mountain of Maine.

Grossi (Montpelier, Vt.) started his day by taking fourth in the qualifier, racing to the finish in 2:35.72. That qualified him for a quarterfinal race, where he placed second out of six skiers in 2:36.64. The top two finishers in each quarterfinal moved on to the semifinals, where Grossi just missed a spot in the championship final with his time of 2:30.57, less than a second away from a top six finish. Nevertheless, his seventh-place showing earned the Bobcats 35 carnival points.

Two other men's Nordic skiers also finished in the top 30 for the Bobcats. 

First-year Cabot Godoy (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) was 22nd in the qualifier, crossing the finish line in 2:42.28. That earned him a spot in a quarterfinal, where he finished fifth out of six skiers in 2:36.04. Godoy placed 24th overall, good for 23 carnival points. Sophomore Eske Roennau (Aspen, Colo.) rounded out the scoring for the Bobcats, finishing 26th in the qualifier in 2:44.07 and sixth in his quarterfinal in 2:33.48, good for 29th overall and 18 carnival points.

On the women's side, first-year Greta Hendrickson (Duluth, Minn.) led the way, finishing an impressive 14th in the qualifier in 3:08.58. She finished sixth in her quarterfinal in 2:58.50, good for 27th out of 105 skiers and 17 carnival points. Fellow first-year Elsa Sanborn (Burlington, Vt.) was right behind Hendrickson in 28th place, earning 16 carnival points after finishing 26th in the qualifier in 3:12.78 and sixth in her quarterfinal in 3:04.36. 

First-year Hannah Grohman (Biddeford, Maine) rounded out the scoring for the women's team in 31st place thanks to her qualifier time of 3:14.34, earning the Bobcats 14 carnival points.

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

The 15K freestyle race for Bates Nordic will begin Saturday at 10 a.m. to wrap up the Bates Carnival.