Sophomore Alex Benway (Queensbury, NY) and freshman Rachel Bachman (Queensbury, NY) were standout performers for the Clarkson University Nordic Ski team this past weekend as the two led the Golden Knights to first-place showings for the men’s and women’s teams at the Cornell Invitational held at Lapland Lake, Northville, NY.
The Golden Knight men and women won both the 6k classic and 12k freestyle races.
In Saturday’s 6k classic, Benway led the men’s field with a first-place time of 14:20, followed by freshman Dan Stevens (Glenville, NY) in second (14:54). Freshman Andrew Klem (Dalton, MA) placed fifth (15:21) and sophomore Ned Burnett (Winthrop, ME) finished sixth 15:51. Overall as a team, Clarkson posted eight points with USMA coming in second with 28.
Bachman paced the Clarkson women on Saturday with a second-place showing of 19:15 in the 6k event. Sophomores Alyssa Dausman (Syracuse, NY) and Emily Garrant (Marcellus, NY) finished fourth (20:47) and sixth (21:06), respectively. The women’s team gained first place out of eight teams with 12 points with Cornell in second (18).
In the men’s 12k freestyle race on Sunday, Benway led the way with a winning time of 26:00. Graduate student Matt Delaney (Lake Placid, NY) placed second (27:59) with Stevens and senior Chris Lamothe (Colchester, VT) in fourth (28:15) and fifth (28:27), respectively. As a team, the Knights easily outdistanced second-place USMA 7-33.
Bachman (36:46), Dausman (39:30) and Garrant (39:44) put in a balanced effort for the Green and Gold in the women’s 12k race, finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Clarkson won the event with 12 points, while Cornell placed second (22).