RUMFORD, Maine- The Williams College Alpine and Nordic teams wrapped up the first carnival of 2015 today where performances all around point to a season better than the Ephs have seen in recent history.

 

The team scored fifth overall with 475 points, 231 points behind fourth place University of New Hampshire. University of Vermont won the weekend with 914 points, followed by Dartmouth College in second, and Middlebury College in third.

 

Senior Christoph Lentz gave the best showing of all the Ephs on the second day of the Bates Carnival and assured Williams one top ten spot for the weekend. His first run, in today's slalom race at Sunday River Resort, of 55.63 seconds put him in 18th while a blistering second run of 50.22 seconds, sixth fastest in the field, landed him in ninth place overall with a total time of 1 minute 45.85 seconds.

 

Lentz's class mate, senior Carson Houle, also improved between runs, ending up in 18th place. After a first run of 55.94 seconds, Houle was sitting in 24th place, but posted the eighth fastest second run in 50.43 seconds. His overall time was 1 minute 46.37 seconds.

 

Freshman Charles Harrison made his name known on the carnival circuit today with a 24th place and an elapsed time of 1 minute 47.04 seconds. Senior Victor Major rounded out the Eph Alpine men coming in 34th with a total time of 1:50.07.

 

The men were fourth overall on the slalom day, making the biggest contribution to the ski team's overall fifth-place finish.

 

The Eph Alpine women were seventh for the day, with senior and captain Sarah Cottrill again leading the way. Cottrill was 23rd for the day, with an overall time of 1:53.01. Cottrill continued the trend of improvement throughout the day; her first run was 57.01 seconds and her second was 56.00 seconds, giving respective 28th and 16th places.

 

Meanwhile, the Nordic Ephs were battling the near zero temperatures and gusty winds of Black Mountain. The individual start freestyle race was delayed an hour to allow for a slightly warmer climate, but the men and women Nordic teams still managed to each secure seventh place team finishes.

 

As far as the trend for improvement, the Nordic men certainly made some leaps between day one and day two of the Bates Carnival. Senior Will Wicherski gave the Nordic team their first top fifteen of the season, completing the ten-kilometer race in 25:08.3 for 13th place, about a minute behind second place Akeo Maifeld-Carucci of Harvard. However, the race winner, Dartmouth's Patrick Caldwell, had an additional 45 seconds on Maifeld-Carucci.

 

William's only Nordic freshman man, Jack Schrupp, completed his impressive carnival debut today, posting a 21st place finish, just 28 seconds behind Wicherski. Senior Vanya Rybkin delivered as well, coming in eleven seconds behind Schrupp for a 23rd place finish.

 

While many of the Nordic women sat out today's race with various aliments, those who did compete in the five-kilometer race supported the team's upward trajectory of results.

 

The course was colder and slower for the earlier women's race but that did not stop freshman Heidi Halvorsen from giving the women their best result of the season thus far. Halvorsen's time of 15:14.2 put her in 21st place, a tenth of a second out of top 20 and about 1 minute and 22 seconds behind leader Heather Mooney of Middlebury.

 

The action continues Friday, Jan. 23, at the UVM carnival in Vermont.