Middlebury Carnival
EISA Championships
at Middlebury, Vt.

EASTER, HILDEBRAND, JOHNSON NAMED ALL-EAST
Bobcats finish sixth at Middlebury Carnival

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — There were few surprises for the Bates College ski team from the EISA Skiing championships, held at the Middlebury Carnival Feb. 22-23. Bates finished sixth once for the sixth week in a row, with three Bobcats earning All-East recognition. Senior alpine skier Kyle Hildebrand (Waitsfield, Vt.) and sophomore Nordic skier Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and each earned first-team honors, while junior Justin Easter (Jay, Maine) earned second-team honors for the Nordic men. All three are headed to the NCAA championships at the University of Alaska-Anchorage next week.

Johnson had the weekend's top individual performance with a third-place finish in the 15K freestyle and an eighth-place in the 5K classical. Easter had his highest finish of the season by taking fifth place in the men's 10K classical. He also came in eighth in the 15K freestyle, giving him top 10s in all nine races this season. Junior captain Jane Marshall (Boise, Idaho) and sophomore Abbie Harris (Derby Line, Vt.) took 21st and 22nd in the women's freestyle race, giving Bates a fourth-place team finish in the event, its highest of the carnival. Harris and Marshall also finished 18th and 19th respectively in the classical, giving the Bobcats fifth place in that race.

On the downhill slopes, senior captain Jo-Ellen Rowley (Milton. Vt.) earned 12th-place finishes in both the slalom and giant slalom races, her top two finishes of the season. Rowley is a second alternate to the NCAAs. First-year Jenny Williams (No. Andover, Mass.) made her first top-20 appearance of the season, taking 18th in the slalom. The men had a disappointing finish in the alpine events, as Hildebrand was disqualified in the slalom and finished 16th in the GS as no other Bates man finished in the top 30.

Complete results from EISASkiing.org