FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington’s Nordic and Freeride teams are heading to the 2017 USCSA National Championships at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon on Saturday, March 4.
These championship competitions are comprised of over 400 intercollegiate athletes in Alpine, Nordic and Freeride from all over the country. UMF participants qualified through regional championships as well as season-long events.
Student-athletes representing UMF in Nordic: Thomas Wing, freshman from New Sharon; Jordan Fried, freshman from Brookline, Mass.; and Alisha Labbe, junior from Turner.
Freeride sends four student-athletes: Ben Amburgey, a freshman from Fitchburg, Mass.; Quinton Fogarty, a junior from Auburn; Connor Dunn, a freshman from Gorham; and Whitney LeMay, a sophomore from Woodbridge, VA.
Last week, the Nordic team was in Jericho, VT., at the USCSA ECSC Regional Championship where the Farmington men’s team took third place overall and second place in the official ECSC men’s team overall (minus UVM and Bates). The Beavers scored 47 points in the classic race, 31 points in the skate sprint and 43 in the 15K skate, giving the team a total of 121.
Thomas Wing took fourteenth place in the overall standings with a finish in the top 20 in every race, while Jordan Fried took sixteenth place in overall standings with a top 10 finish, a top 15 finish and a top 25 finish.
In the 15K, Fried took fourteenth place with a time of 54:37, while Wing finished in
the 1K sprint race with Fried taking the tenth spot with a time of 3:26 and Wing nineteenth place with a time of 56:03. Fried and Wing battled for the top 10 spot in
taking the thirteenth spot with a time of 3:33. In the 6.6K Classic, Wing took fifteenth place with a time of 24:23 while Fried finished twenty-fifth with a time of 25:51.
The women’s team finished in sixth place with Alisha Labbe taking nineteenth overall with a time of 1:02:53 in the 15K classic. Labbe took fifteenth place in the 1K sprint with a time of 5:27 and twenty-second place in the 6.6K classic with a time 32:40.
This year the UMF Snowboard/Freeski team competed in the newly created Park Shark Challenge (co-sponsored by The Riders Club and local businesses). The six event series involved Rail Jams and Slopestyle events at several venues in Maine. In the end, more than 300 riders of all ages from across New England participated and UMF student-athletes went up against several high level competitors. Advancing to Nationals includes: Women’s sophomore snowboarder Whitney LeMay, who finished seventh in last year’s USCSA Nationals and is aiming to best her performance against improved competition; Junior freeskiers Quinton Fogarty and Ben Amburgey will compete in Rail Jam and Slopestyle events, while freshman Connor Dunn will be the iron man, competing in all men’s snowboard events (Rail Jam, Slopestyle, Cross, Slalom and GS).
Congratulation to UMF and good luck at the Nationals. Go Thomas!