The St. Lawrence University Alpine ski teams opened the 2011 campaign on Friday in Lake Placid, NY as the Saints played host to the first EISA carnival of the season at Whiteface Mountain. Sophomore Ashley-Kate Durham's fifth place finish in the Giant Slalom led the Saints' women's team to second place overall, while junior Jeremy Lawless' fourth collegiate top-20 showing helped the men to fourth place as a team.

The St. Lawrence women's team closed with 92.0 points behind three top-20 showings from Durham, senior Kelly Skinner and sophomore Ann West. The team finished behind only the University of Vermont, which took the top-3 places in Friday's GS race. Meanwhile, the Saints' men's team finished only one spot off the podium with 77.0 points, 18.0 behind the University of New Hampshire for third. Vermont also won the men's Giant Slalom with 138.0 points.

Durham finished in fifth position overall in the women's event with a combined time of 2:10.29. The Timmins, ON native earned 39.0 points for her team and 45.0 points towards NCAA qualification.

Skinner delivered a clutch performance on Friday, as she picked up a career-best 14th place finish overall. The Londonderry, VT native had never placed higher than 22nd in a collegiate event, but a second-run time of 1:06.13 bumped her up the leader board into the top-15. Finally, West closed out the scoring with her third collegiate top-20 finish, landing in 17th overall to solidify the team's place on the podium.

First-year student Caroline Barry was 28th in her first race as a member of the Saints' alpine team, while junior Elena Rogers (31st) and rookie Hayley Best (DNF) rounded out Friday's line-up.

In the men's GS, Lawless was the top Saint finisher in 17th place overall with a total time of 2:06.96. The Shelburne Falls, MA native was joined in the scoring by a pair of first-year students, Dustin Martin and Ben DeFlavio. Martin was 19th overall in his first collegiate race, while fellow rookie DeFlavio was only two spots back in 21st position to close out the team scoring.

Juniors Matt Dodge and Scott Houser also picked up top-25 finishes on Friday in the GS. Dodge was 22nd overall while Houser followed in 25th. Senior Thatcher Jacques rounded out the team's line-up in 31st place.

Vermont's Lyndee Janowiak claimed the women's GS title with a time of 2:09.17 ahead of teammate Megan Ryley, while Jonathan Nordbotten earned the men's crown for UVM with a time of 2:02.68.

Both St. Lawrence Alpine teams will be in action again tomorrow, Saturday, January 15 on the second day of the home carnival as athletes compete in the slalom.