Andover, NH - Freshman Austin Florian (Southington, CT) and junior Sarah Shafer (Petoskey, MI) claimed the top finishes for the Clarkson University Alpine Ski team as the Golden Knights closed out in fourth place at the UConn Invitational held at the Blackwater Ski Area.

The Golden Knights' men finished in fourth out of eight teams at the event while the women were fourth out of nine teams.

Florian was the top performer overall for the Knights, finishing fifth among 67 skiers in the men's race with a time of 1:31.32. Junior Christian Perryman (West Lebanon, NH) was next for Clarkson's men, taking 14th place in 1:32.76, and sophomore Alex Slemp (Clifton Park, NY) came in 15th in 1:32.82. Overall, several other skiers placed well, with Chris Gero (St. Albans, NY) finishing in 23rd, Ian Williams (Fleischmanns, NY) in the next spot, and Christian Avery (Lyme, NY) also finishing in the top half with a 28th-place showing. Eli Greenwald (Manhattan, NY) came in 37th and Dalton Whaley (Queensbury, NY) was 51st. Freshman Sean Donohue (Bolton Landing, NY) was in first place after the first run, but a tough second time down the mountain relegated him to 40th place overall.

For the women, Shafer led the way by taking 13th out of 65 skiers in 1:42.83. Freshman Taylor Manderson (Ballston Spa, NY) was one spot behind Shafer in 1:42.97, and classmate Ashley Yoviene (Boston, NY) took 17th in 1:43.37. Rounding out the women's skiers were Kelly Rowland (West Windsor, NJ) in 23rd and Mycala Stebbins (Canandaigua, NY) in 33rd. Hailey Gilmore (Woodbury, CT) did not finish.