The Williams Nordic teams earned 50 points in Saturday's freestyle races at Middlebury's Rikert Nordic Center to leapfrog Colby College and finish 12th at the championships with 143 points.
Will Wicherski '15 and Isaac Hoenig '14 were 21st and 23rd, respectively, to lead the Ephs in the 20-kilometer freestyle race. Wicherski skied most of the race in a large chase pack and had actually gotten into 8th place through 15 kilometers. But the difficult course and the stacked field caught back up to the sophomore, who finished in 51:07.7.
Hoenig, meanwhile, skied his entire race in the mid-20s and finished 23rd on the day, just 6 seconds behind his teammate in 51:13.8. The finish marked the highest career finish for Hoenig, appearing in his first career NCAA championship.
Christina Knapp '13 was 29th, while Olivia Meyerson '16 was 38th in the women's 15-kilometer freestyle. Knapp skied the 3-lap course in 41:13.4, oscillating between 32nd and 26th before finishing inside the top 30.
For Meyerson, the week marked a sign of big things to come. The first-year lost steam near the end of the race but showed she can compete on the national stage.
The University of Colorado rallied from behind to take the team title with 708 points. The 12th-place finish matches the Ephs' performance from a year ago.
Complete story to follow.
