After five top-five finishes this season, Rob Cone broke through with a win on his home course in the slalom on day one of the 93rd annual Middlebury Winter Carnival. The event also doubles as the EISA Championship as well as an NCAA Regional. Action resumes on Saturday at the Snow Bowl with the giant slalom at 9:30 a.m. Nordic action gets underway at the Rikert Nordic Center with the men's 10K free at 10:00 a.m. and the women's 5K free at noon.

Cone was one of just 50 racers to complete a challenging course that saw 33 competitors not finish the race. His time of 1:31.91 was more than one second ahead of the next finisher, as he and his teammates placed second in the event. Christopher McKenna and Riley Plant did complete the course, both finishing in the top 20. McKenna came in with a two-run time of 1:35.10 for his fifth top-15 effort of the season in 15th place. Right behind him was Plant, who tied for 16th place overall in 1:35.19.

Just .23 second separated all three Panther women to score team points in the slalom. Lexi Calcagni paced the group in 15th place with a time of 1:39.94. One spot back were Caroline Bartlett and Elle Gilbert, who each finished in a 16th-place tie in 1:40.17.