February 20, 2010 (Bennington, VT) – The University of Vermont had strong Nordic performances to gain first place on the first day

of the Williams Carnival. At Nordic Skiing venue of Prospect Mountain, the childhood hill of Olympian Andy Newell of nearby Shaftsbury, the blustery weather and earlier snow flurries certainly contributed to a general unsettled feeling throughout. However, the temperatures remained steady and the snow abated resulting in conditions that were difficult, rather than impossible, to wax for.

At Prospect the win for the men’s 10km classic went to the University of Vermont’s Franz Bernstein, who skied the

winning time of 28 minutes and 40 seconds despite a very sore back. Following him was Middlebury’s Patrick Johnson who filed a 29-minute ten-second time for the Panthers while Dartmouth’s Patrick O’Brien wrote a 29-minute 24-second time to round out the top three.

On the women’s side Ida Sargent continued to garner first place honors, this time posting a dominating 15-min

ute 37-second time in the Women’s 5km Classic. Following her was the University of Vermont’s Caitlin Patterson with a 16-minute and 25-second time while Dartmouth’s Sophie Caldwell took home a valuable third place time of 16 minutes and 27 seconds for The Big Green.

The team totals now are the University of Vermont in the lead with 494 points, Dartmouth second with 435 points, and Middlebury narrowly leading Williams College with 358 and 355 points respectively. Dartmouth and the University of Vermont will be vying for first while Middlebury and Williams fight for third with the University of New Hampshire not too far behind.