The men's Nordic ski team had one of their best finishes in years in the opening meet of the season while taking fourth overall in the 15-kilometer freestyle at the Bates Winter Carnival.

Fred Bailey was 11th that day at Bates and had the most top finishes for the Mules. Kris Dobie, Brandon Smithwood, Jeff Alden and Austin Ross were other top finishers during the course of the season. Smithwood placed 14th at the Bates event, while Ross was 22nd and Dobie took 23rd.

Colby had more top-20 finishes this season and was often one or two places higher in the team standings. Dobie had a top-20 finish in the 10K pursuit at St. Michael's and Bailey was in the top 20 at Dartmouth. Bailey also took 19th place in the 10K free technique at Williams.

Smithwood earned NESCAC Winter All-Academic honors.

Hillary Easter led the Colby women's Nordic team with the most top finishes in EISA racing. Her best was 23rd at the Williams College ski carnival. Easter also had two top-25 finishes at the Vermont ski carnival.

Easter and Alex Jospe both had top-30 finishes at the Eastern Championships. Easter was 23rd in the 15-kilometer free technique and Jospe placed 28th in the 5K classic race.

The womenís Nordic team will return all of its skiers from 2003-04.

Hillary Easter '06 had an impressive 15-kilometer classic race, placing 23rd at the Dartmouth ski carnival. She is expected to place consistently high in 2004-05. Alex Jospe '06 also had a fine season, with the highlight a third-place overall finish in the TAMC Super Tour sprints in Fort Kent, Maine. Jospe also skied impressively at the Junior Olympics, placing 11th in the sprint and 27th in the freestyle race. Jospe trains in New Zealand this summer and fall while getting ready for winter racing back at Colby.

Senior Kate Durda '05 will return as womenís captain along with Mariah Whitney '07 and Miriam Trotscha '07. After an impressive win in the classic race at the Minnesota State Meet, Katie Klepinski '08 (St. Louis Park, Minn.), along with Jessica Harold '08 (Freeport, Maine), will round out an impressive squad.

The men's Nordic ski team had solid results in the 2003-04 season with six different skiers in the number one position and five skiers scoring NCAA qualifying points.

Kris Dobie '06 and top cross-country runners Jeff Alden '07 and Fred Bailey '07 were consistent scorers and were ranked on the EISA NCAA qualifying list in 2003-04. Brandon Smithwood '06 should be back to top form after having a career-best 26th place at the Colby ski carnival before being sidelined with an injury the rest of the year. Next year's captain, Aaron Blazar '05, and Cary Fridrich '05 will return along with sophomore Andrew Herstein '07.

Despite losing three top skiers to graduation, Colby is ready to make a name for the team in the conference. Nick Kline '08 (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), John Swain '08 (St. Paul, Minn.), and Jon Reno '08 (Maple Grove, Minn.) will be new additions to the team.

FORT KENT, Maine -- Colby College sophomore Alex Jospe (Pittsford Sutherland/Pittsford, N.Y.) will head into the Nordic Winter Carnival ski season on a high note after finishing third place in the final of the TAMC Nordic Heritage SuperTour and Banknorth Eastern Cup Sprints at the 10th Mountain Division Lodge on December 31.

Jospe was going up against some of the top skiers from the United States and Canada. Since she is amateur skier, Jospe could not accept the $225 prize for third place and the money was donated to the Eastern Amateur Ski Education Foundation.

"This is the premier racing series in North America," Colby Nordic ski coach Tracey Cote said. "It's for sure the best result the Colby Nordic team has ever had in the history of the program."

Rebecca Dussault of the Subaru Factory Team took first place in the women's final. Dussault has already won two national titles in the 5K Classic and the 5K Free Technique at the U.S. Cross Country Championships currently taking place in Rumford, Maine. Rossignol's Lorie Wesolek took second place ahead of Jospe.

Jospe beat out top college skiers from schools such as Middlebury College, University of Vermont and St. Lawrence University.