With first-year skier Kathleen Maynard leading the way, women’s Nordic skiing had a solid season under head coach Tracey Cote. Maynard finished in 11th place in the 10-kilometer freestyle to help the Mules place fourth in that event at the Williams carnival. She finished 17th at Colby’s own ski carnival to start the season. Senior Alex Jospe had the best individual finish of the season—ninth in the classic sprint at the Colby carnival.

Men’s nordic skiing improved this year, posting some fine finishes. The best team finish was fifth, at the Dartmouth carnival in the 20-kilometer freestyle event. Junior Fred Bailey was the top skier for the Mules, with a 12th place finish in the 10K classic at the Eastern meet at Middlebury. Bailey also took 13th at St. Lawrence and had a 14th in the Dartmouth meet. Senior Kris Dobie was 17th at Dartmouth.

The Colby men's Nordic ski team, led by seniors Kris Dobie and Brandon Smithwood, has high expectations for the 2005-2006 season. Both Dobie and Smithwood had impressive results last season, with Dobie placing a career-best 20th at the Saint Michaels carnival and Smithwood a career-best 14th at the Bates carnival.

MVP Fred Bailey '07 was the top skier, missing NCAA nationals by only a few places. He had an impressive 11th at the Bates carnival and scored numerous top-20 finishes. Bailey also was third in the classic race at the NENSA Eastern Championships at the end of the season.

Adding to the depth of this strong team is Austin Ross '08, John Swain '08, Jeff Alden '07, and Andrew Herstein '07. Silas Gill (Burke Mountain Academy), a three-time Junior Olympic All-American, will round out this impressive squad.

A very young Colby women's Nordic team improved in the 2004-05 season. This year's team will be led by Hillary Easter '06 and Alex Jospe '06, both whom had solid results on last year's carnival circuit. Easter is also a top cross-country runner for the Mules and was part of the team that placed fifth last year at the NCAA Division III cross-country nationals. Jospe spent part of last year training in New Zealand and will certainly be posting her best results in the upcoming season.

Aime Schwartz '08, Katie Klepinski '08, and Jess Harold '08 are the young skiers who are expecting big improvements in the upcoming season.

Kathleen Maynard (Jackson, N.H.) will be joining the women as they look to post their best team results. Maynard is a talented runner and impressive skier who finished 16th at the Junior Olympics this past season.