Bobcats Repeat as Regional Champs, Landrum and Ripp Win Individual Titles

Lake Placid, NY ~ The Paul Smith's College men's ski team rose to the challenge of defending their conference title over the weekend, repeating as champions in the Eastern Collegiate Ski Conference (ECSC).  The women's ski team matched their performance from last year as well, finshing as runners-up for the second year in a row.

The ECSC Championships started off with the Individual Skate Race on Saturday, as Saylor Landrum (St. Paul, MN) delivered an epic performance.  The first-year skier started off hot with a top-6 time in qualification and never looked back, winning all of her heats leading up to the final.  In the final, Landrum was trading the lead with a skier from Cornell, but in the final 50-meters Landrum closed the gap and won her first-ever collegiate championship with a boot throw at the line.

"It was an invigorating experience!" said Landrum.  "I came into the day knowing this race format would probably be one of my stronger events, so I was stoked from the beginning to end."

The men's team followed Landrum's lead with seven men qualifying for the rounds and six men skiing in the finals.  The Bobcats had 50% of the field in the finals with three men in each A and B final.  In the A final, teammates Aidan Ripp (Cloquet, MN) and Nathan Livingood (Falmouth, ME) separated quickly from the pack and battled each other on the course.  Ripp ended up taking the championship, while Livingood finished as runner up.  Teammate Gustav Whitcomb (Holderness,NH) finished sixth and Logan Jensen won the B final as the Bobcats finished 1,2,6,7,11,12 - a totally dominating team performance. 

Sunday's championship was a 7.5k Classic Race, with recent warm weather leading to tricky conditions on the course.  The men were first up in the Individual Start Race, mirroring Saturday's results with Ripp and Livingood finishing first and second and Whitcomb finishing fifth.  

The women's team turned in a solid performance, equaling their second-place team finish from Saturday.  Jessie Church (Bethlehem, NH) finished fourth, Landrum 15th, and Emily Cieslewitz (Marcy, NY) 30th.  The consistent performances landed the women in the runner-up position for the championships as they punched their ticket to the United States Collegiate Ski Association (USCSA) National Championships in Mammoth Lakes, CA in the process.

Landrum reflected on her win and what it means ahead of the USCSA National Championships. "Going into Nationals knowing how to race an event like that and having the experience in all of the different formats is a huge relief and is just adding to the excitement for this awesome opportunity!"

Coach Dougherty noted "The performances this weekend were really impressive across both teams, from Brady Miller just being on fire in the sprints to Emily Cieslewitz consistently performing in the top-30 every week.  There have been so many athletes who have stepped up into new roles and helped both teams overcome challenges to deliver these special performances.  The resilience the teams have demonstrated is not only impressive but will be valuable to draw upon at USCSA Nationals where we will be skiing at extremely high elevation and on a different snow pack.  I am confident the team will rise to the challenge and perform to the best of their abilities again."

The Bobcats will travel to Mammoth Lakes, CA to compete in the USCSA National Championships to be held on March 6-12, 2023.