Sunday River, ME - In their first USCSA National Championship appearance, the Castleton State College men's ski team finished a respectable eighth place out of 20 of the country's top teams in the giant slalom event. As most teams in the event did, the Spartans suffered some bad luck in each of their runs, but came away with a good solid effort. Justin Schwartz (Bondville, VT) led the Spartans with a 20th place finish out 113 competitors. Schwartz, 25th after the morning leg of the event, skied the 19th fastest second run to move up in the standings to 20th. Gregory Towle (Coventry, RI) found himself in 66th place after the first run, but clocked the 41st fastest second run to just into 46th on the day. Freshman William Richard Colt (Hanover, NH) was destined for a top-15 result, as he placed 20th after the first run, but an error in the second run moved him back into 48th for the day. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst won today's event with a total team time of 415.45. Plymouth State University placed second at 416.38, while Sierra Nevada College placed third at 419.43.