February 24, 2007

Castleton women finish 12th, men ninth in USCSA Regional Championships

Waterville, ME -Women: The Castleton State College women's ski team made their third straight appearance at the USCSA Eastern Regional Championships this past weekend at Waterville Valley, NH.  Castleton was led by senior Nicole Kondziela (Bath, PA / Northampton), who finished 34th out of 90 women in the race to guide the team to a 12th place finish amongst 17 teams.  Kondziela was followed by freshman Heather Patterson (Stockton, CA / Lincoln) and sophomore Emma Harvey (Kattskill Bay, NY / Lake George Central), who finished 42th and 50th, respectively.  Boston College finished first on the day followed by Brown University (2nd) and Colby-Sawyer College (3rd).  Brown's Kelly O'Hear finished first in the race, while Courtney Willson of BC finished second.  Plymouth State University's Melissa Caflisch rounded out the podium in third to lead her team to a fourth place finish.  The 12th place team result for the Spartans is the best result they have had in their three years competing in the slalom event at the USCSA Eastern Regional Championships.  The Castleton Spartans will return to Waterville Valley on Sunday for day two of the championships. 

Men: The Castleton men skiers competed at the USCSA Eastern Regional Championships for the second year in a row at Waterville Valley, NH this past weekend.  For the Spartan men, this marks the second time in their four-year history that they have made it to the event.  The Spartans were led by Justin Schwartz (Bondville, VT / Burr and Burton), who finished in 18th place out of 90 racers to lead the team to a 9th place team slalom finish out of 17 teams on the day.  With the result, Schwartz becomes the first Spartan individual (male or female) to place in the top-20 in an event at the USCSA Eastern Regional Championships during the team's short USCSA history.  Greg Towle (Coventry, RI / Bishop Hendricken) finished 28th, while Corey Gray (North Conway, NH / Kennett) placed 45th.  The 9th place result is a substantial improvement since last season's 12th place slalom finish at the championships.  Plymouth State University's Vincent Dinapoli led his team to first place finish by claiming the individual gold, while teammate Jason Hey finished with the bronze.  Colby-Sawyer College's Travis Plass finished second to guide his team to a second place finish.

###Spartans###