Lake Placid, NY – Juniors Ana Witkowski and Charles Maitland of the Clarkson University Nordic Ski team each earned podium spots for their efforts in the 7.5-kilometer freestyle as the Golden Knights opened up the USCSA Nationals at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

The Golden Knights' women finished second among seven teams in the 7.5K Freestyle with 23 points, four behind St. Olaf College and two ahead of Western State Colorado University. The Clarkson men came in third out of 11 squads with 34 points, two behind St. Olaf and 20 behind Western State Colorado University, but winning a tie-breaker against Colorado Mesa University, which also had 34 points.

Clarkson's women had two skiers in the top five, something that no other team was able to accomplish in that race, as Witkowski came in second place out of 39 skiers in 25:39.60, approximately 55 seconds behind the pacesetter. Freshman Bridget Wangler gained a fifth-place finish in 25:50.30, and sophomore Raili Utiger took 20th in 29:05.20 to round out the Knights' scoring. Junior Brianna Szczech came in 33rd in 31:10.40 and sophomore Kathryn Bartosik placed 38th in 33:39.70.

For the men, Maitland finished in third place out of the 55 participants, closing out the race in 22:06.80, a little over 27 seconds behind the race's winner. Senior Peter Mallery was next for the Knights in 14th in 23:25.20 and classmate Brian Chrzan in 17th with a time of 23:39.90. Freshman Michael Giraldi followed in 24th, in 24:09.30, which proved key as that time allowed the Knights to take third as a tie-breaker. Junior Austin Gillespie was next for the Knights in 26th with a time of 24:36.80. Classmate Timothy Dunn came in 31st in 24:51.30 and sophomore Ben Longenbach finished 39th in 26:18.80.