Lake Placid, N.Y. - The Colby Nordic Ski team took to the trails Friday to open the St. Lawrence Carnival with the 20k Freestyle mass start.  With three in the top-30, the men's and women's squads each placed eighth in the 11-team event.  

Hot off a 6th place finish in the Freestyle at last week's EISA opener, Andrew Defor was once again the top scorer for the Mules sliding into 22nd place.  Benjamin Lewis (headline photo) was close behind in 27th and first-year Ellis Slover rounded out the scoring in 37th.  For the women Lola Villafranco placed 27th to earn valuable NCAA qualifying points, and Lydia Kraker and Natalie O'Brien added Colby's final two scorers in 38th and 40th respectively. 

The Mules take back to the trails at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Saturday for the 7.5k Classic.