The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: Sports

After the unprecedented success they had been having, the Colby nordic teams came back down to earth over the weekend but still managed to put together pretty good weekends according to Captain Kathleen Maynard `09.

The women finished sixth out of 13 teams on Friday and ninth out of 12 teams on Saturday, and the men came in fifth out of 14 teams on Friday and finished in a fourth-place tie with Middlebury College on Saturday at the Williams College Ski Carnival at Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Mass. Maynard said that despite inconsistent skiing, it was nice to see the team have good performances each day.

"The weekend went pretty well," she said. "The men's and women's team balanced each other out over the two days of racing, with the women having strong finishes on Friday and the men carrying us on Saturday."

As she has done all season, Maynard led the way for the women with her 11th place finish on Saturday in the 10-kilometer freestyle race, crossing the line in 36:29.9.

First-year Mandy Ivey rounded out Colby's top two once again with a time of 38:03.7, which was good enough to place her 21st.

The men on Friday also had familiar faces in the front. Nick Kline `08 and Captain Fred Bailey `07 finished back-to-back in 15th and 16th place, respectively, with times of 31:17.1 and 31:21.4. Sam Mathes completed the 10K course in 31:56.3, placing 22nd.

On Saturday, Kline and Bailey remained close but moved up on the field. Kline slid up to eighth place in the standings and his captain wasn't far behind in eleventh.

To qualifying for Nationals in nordic skiing, a skier must attain a certain number of points during the regular season, and with one week left, it looks as though Bailey and Maynard both have a shot to go. Maynard, who would return home to Jackson, N.H., for the championships, said she is excited for this weekend.

"As far as Nationals, Fred and I are sort of on the bubble," she said, "making it come down to having some good races this weekend."

The teams will compete at the Middlebury Carnival and are hoping that their spectacular season will come to a fitting end, though perhaps not quite yet for their two captains.

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