The Middlebury nordic ski team sits atop the leaderboard out of 14 teams after the first day of competition at the Saint Michael's Carnival. The Panther men finished first in the 1.25K sprint with 125 points, while the women were runner-up with 120 points. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• On the women's side, Quincy Massey-Bierman placed third in the final heat. Earlier in the day, she recorded a time of 3:12.93 in the qualifying round. 
• Rounding out the finals heat of six was Charlotte Ogden and Shea Brams who finished fifth and sixth, respectively. In the qualifying rounds, Ogden clocked in at 3:10.30 and Brams stopped the clock in 3:16.12. 
• Sam Hodges and Jack Christner both advanced all the way to the finals. Hodges recorded a time of 2:43.72 in the qualifier and finished as runner-up in the final round. Christner clocked in at 2:47.48 in the first round of the day, and placed fifth in the finals.
• Willson Moore advanced to the semifinals, finishing in third in his heat. Moore crossed the finish line in 2:47.41 during the qualifying round. 

NOTES

• Middlebury had five skiers advance to the final heat in the event.
• The nordic races are all being held on Middlebury's home course at the Rikert Outdoor Center due to weather conditions impacting the course at Saint Michael's. 

The nordic portion of the carnival wraps up on Saturday with the 15K classic mass start. Alpine was postponed until the weekend of February 3 due to weather conditions.