A dominant effort by the Clarkson University Nordic Ski team enabled the Golden Knight men to successful defend their Eastern Regional title with a first-place showing this past weekend at New Hampshire's Waterville Valley resort.
Clarkson placed first in all three men’s events at the 2009 Eastern Regional to qualify for the United States Collegiate Ski Association Nationals (USCSA) in Winter Park, Colorado during the week of March 3-7. The Golden Knight women will also advance to the nationals after placing second in the regional.
Junior Matt Delaney (Lake Placid, NY) led the Clarkson men with two first-place finishes and a second-place showing. The leading individual skier throughout the season in the eastern region, Delaney was in top form this past weekend, placing first in Saturday’s 15k freestyle with a time of 45:43. He also finished first in the 1.5k sprint (3:12). In Sunday’s 8.5 classical race, freshman Alex Benway (Queensbury, NY) beat out Delaney (29:25) for the top spot with a winning time of 28:23.
Benway has enjoyed a solid freshman campaign and is second in the divisional individual standings. At the regional, he placed second in the 15k freestyle (47:50) and in seventh in the 1.5k sprint (3:36) along with winning the 8.5 classical.
Clarkson won the 15k freestyle with eight points, followed by University of Maine at Orono in second (25). Senior Derrick Day (Honeoye Falls, NY) and junior Andrew Nadeau (Irondequoit, NY) placed sixth (49:06) and seventh (49:16), respectively in the race.
The Knights also won the 1.5k sprint with 11 points, with University of Maine at Orono in second (27). Along with Delaney and Nadeau top-10 efforts, junior Chris Lamothe (Colchester, VT) placed fifth (3:32).
Closing out the regional on Sunday, the Green and Gold won the 8.5k classical has Benway, Delaney and Nadeau (29:52), finished first, third, and fifth, respectively. The Knights posted nine points with University of Maine at Orono in second (18).
Senior Chelsea Reynolds (Endicott, NY) paced the Clarkson women. Reynolds was the Knights leading skier in the 15k freestyle race with a fifth-place time of 1:05:00. She also led the Green and Gold in the 1.5k sprint event with a fifth-place showing (4:39). Reynolds was sixth in the 8.5k classical (37:27).
Freshman Andrea Walsh (Underhill Center, VT), who is fifth in the individual regional standings, was Clarkson’s top performer in the 8.5k classical with a fourth-place showing (37:20). Walsh finished seventh in the 15k freestyle (1:06:25) and sixth in the 1.5k sprint (4:45).
Sophomore Alicia Perras (Portsmouth, RI) and freshmen Alyssa Dausman (Syracuse, NY), Emily Garrant (Marcellus, NY) and Kallie Desmond (Central Square, NY) also enjoyed strong showings at the Regional.
The Clarkson women placed second behind Cornell in all three events.