Waterville - Maine - The Colby College Nordic Ski teams opened the second leg of the EISA circuit Friday with the Colby Carnival Freestyle.  Led by Jack Young in 7th place the men's team finished fifth (two points behind UNH in third) and the women placed sixth.  

Young, fresh off a fourth place finish at last week's UVM Carnival, showed he is one of the top skiers in the league.  Three more Mules placed in the top-20 for the men, with first-years Benjamin Lewis and and Andrew Defor taking 16th and 17th respectively, and Zach Nemeth right behind in 18th.  The women's team was led by senior Gretta Scholz in 14th.  First-year Maddie Hooker kept her stellar start to her career going with a 20th place finish, and Isabel Seay rounded out the scoring in 29th place.  

"It was really fun to be at Quarry Road for our home carnival" said Head Nordic Coach Tracey Cote.  "The trails and skiing conditions were perfect and the volunteers were really incredible.  The league is so competitive and Ben Lewis, who placed 16th, was only four seconds out of 10th!  Overall a really solid day with Jack and Gretta leading the way and first-years Andrew and Maddie joining Ben, continuing to contribute at a super high level.  We are excited for Saturday's 20k as we're a very fit team and we have been looking forward to this race all year." 

Colby finishes up the home carnival Saturday with the 20k Classic.  The men's mass start is scheduled for 9:30am, with the women right behind at 11:30am.