March 4, 2010

PSU Men’s Skiers place fourth in GS at nationals

NEWRY, Maine - The Plymouth State University men's ski team had one finisher in the top five and two in the top 11 on Thursday as the Panthers took fourth place out of 21 schools in the giant slalom team standings at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) National Championships at Sunday River Resort.

Perennial power Sierra Nevada College captured the team championship with the top two individuals and a ninth place finisher. Westminster University was runner-up and Rocky Mountain College placed third. Plymouth State was the top eastern school in fourth place overall, while Boston College finished fifth and Colby-Sawyer College sixth.

Freshman Chris Beadon (Ridgefield, Conn.) led the Panthers with an outstanding performance, finishing in fifth place among the 121 racers to earn First Team All-America honors. He posted the seventh-best time in each of the two runs to earn his fifth place overall. Beadon (right) shared the Eastern Regional combined alpine championship last month at Waterville Valley.

Junior Peter Ostroski (Intervale, N.H./Kennett) earned Second Team All-American recognition for PSU with an 11^th place finish. He was in 15^th after the first run before posting the sixth-fastest time on the second run. The outcome marked the seventh career All-America honor for Ostroski.

Freshman Parker Spear (Sodus Point, N.Y.) was PSU's third finisher, coming in 26^th place. Junior Travis Nevins (Henniker, N.H./John Stark) was next in 34^th, and junior Willie Colt (Hanover, N.H.) finished 52^nd.

The championships continue the rest of the week with the women's slalom on Friday, and the men's slalom on Saturday.

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