January 14, 2007

Castleton completes perfect weekend, sweeps Giant Slalom at Ascutney

Brownsville, VT-Castleton backed up their ECSC McBrine Division slalom sweep with yet another perfect day in the giant slalom.

Women: For the second day in a row Freshman Heather Patterson (Stockton, CA/Lincoln) finished in the runner-up spot as the women's ski team skied to their second ECSC McBrine Division team victory of the season in today's giant slalom at Ascutney Mountain Resort. Sophomore Emma Harvey (Kattskill Bay, NY/Lake George Central) earned her first career collegiate podium, as she finished in the bronze medal position. Harvey was followed closely by Nicole Kondziela (Bath, PA/Northhampton) in fourth and Lindsey Wiken (Hampden, ME/Hampden Academy) who finished fifth. Marist College's Jenny Wiegard won the race with a two-run time of 59.78 seconds. Patterson was close behind Wiegard with a total time of 1:00.23, while Harvey posted a 1:00.81. Castleton's total team time of 243.17 seconds put them in first for the day. Yale University finished second at 269.55. Marist College (269.55) checked in at third in the seven-team competition. The Spartans also had strong finishes from Brenna Nolan (Pittsfield, VT/Otter Valley), Colleen Pruss (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) and Carli Teats (East Berne, NY/Berne-Know-Westerlo) who finished 7th, 10th and 12th.

With seven ECSC McBrine Division races to go, the Spartans are in first place in the season team standings with 20 points. Marist and Yale are tied for second with 17. Patterson finds herself in first overall in the individual standings after two races with 28 points, while Kondziela is close behind in second with 27.

Men: The Castleton State College men's ski team swept all three giant slalom podium positions for the first time in their young history on Sunday as they raced to victory in ECSC McBrine Division action at Ascutney Mountain Resort. Freshman Tim Rogers (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug) led the Spartan charge with his first collegiate victory with a total two-run time of 55.36. Rogers was followed by sophomore Justin Schwartz (Bondville, VT/Burr and Burton), who finished second to match his result from the day before. Schwartz posted a time of 55.42. Jeff Giegler (Danbury, CT/Danbury), the leader after the first run, fell to third overall with a time of 55.69 to complete the Spartan podium sweep. Overall, the Spartans placed all ten of their starters in the top-13 in the 75 racer competition as Tom D'Errico (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury) finished sixth, Teddy Panasci (Goshen, CT/Wamogo) seventh, Greg Towle (Coventry, RI/Bishop Hendicken) eighth, Bobby Dreissig (Natick, MA/Natick) tenth, Ryan Dunleavy (Lake George, NY/Lake George Central) 11th, Evan Vomacka (Belmont, NH/Bishop Brady) 12th and Corey Gray (North Conway, NH/Kennett) 13th. Castleton's total team time of 223.61 seconds beat out Yale University's 243.12, who finished in the runner-up spot. Brandeis University finished third at 245.62 in the eight-team race.

After two ECSC McBrine Division races, the Spartans (20) have a two-point lead over second-place Yale (18). Schwartz is on top of the individual overall season standings leader board with 28 points, while Giegler and Rogers are tied for third.

Both teams will compete in ECSC McBrine Division competition again on Sunday, January 21 at Ascutney Mountain Resort, where they will be racing in the slalom event.

###Spartans###