Sports round-up

Men’s Alpine Skiing- The Castleton men’s alpine skiing team braved jet lag and a snowstorm on their way to Oregon for the USCA National Championships. The men’s team had themselves a stellar weekend as they tied a program record by capturing a third place overall finish. It didn’t come easy for them as they finished third in giant slalom and fourth in slalom and had to win a tiebreak with Clarkson University to secure sole possession of the podium spot.

Two Castleton racers earned themselves All-American honors after carving up Mount Bachelor with the rest of the field. Jan Klindic flew into a third place finish in slalom, however giant slalom slowed him down a little as Klindic placed eleventh. None of that mattered though as he secured the fourth overall position in the combined standings to grab the combined All-American honors.

Erik Brobacke decided to keep his teammate in check as he also secured himself a seventh place finish in the slalom that gave him the title of All-American as well. Brobacke came in 21st overall in the combined standings, close to his other teammates Matt Couture who finished 20th, and Paul Klosterman who finished 28th.

This is the first time since 2015 that the Spartans had two racers claim All-American Honors. This was also the sixth-straight top ten finish at the National Championships for the Spartans.

 

Women’s Alpine Skiing- The women were just as brave as the men as they also skied themselves to a solid overall showing at the USCA National Championships. The ladies glided across the snow in the slalom event as they finished seventh overall with two racers finishing in the top 20. Their seventh place finish in slalom helped them to a seventh place finish in combined standings narrowly missing a top five spot.

Linn Ljungemo led the way, just as he has done for her whole career, as she captured All-American honors in both slalom and giant slalom. Ljungemo is the first in Castleton women’s alpine skiing history to be a three time All-American. Her finishes left her one second out of the top ten.

Kylie Mackie finished 20th overall in combined standings, and Megan O’Shea, Caitlin Houston, and Kirsten Kruk all enjoyed a great week of competition as well. With O’Shea finishing 27th followed by Houston in 46th and Kruk having a tough run in giant slalom landing her 71st in combined overall.

 

Tennis- Everything is going right for the Castleton Men’s tennis team to start their season. The Spartans have exploded out of the gate as they are undefeated and not looking back.

The Spartans started their season with two big wins at the Grand Slam Tennis Center where they took down Norwich 5-4, then followed it up just a few days later by crushing Lyndon State 8-1. The Spartans kept on rolling as they failed to lose a match against both Green Mountain and Johnson State beating both team 9-0.

The Spartans are looking forward to their rematch against Norwich on March 22, as the Spartan’s look to claim the season series against the Cadets.

 

Men’s Lacrosse- The Vermont weather has continued to be unpredictable, but that hasn’t slowed down the Castleton Men’s Lacrosse team as they have fought through snow, ice and oddly heat early this year. The Spartans took down their rivals at Mount Ida College 12-7 last Friday to bring their record to 2-2 at the start of the 2017 season.

The Spartan’s continued their tradition of a tough out of conference schedule as they faced Plattsburgh State to open their season where they fell to the Red Birds 20-7. The Spartans bounced right back however, as they took down Curry College 12-8 in the home opener. Unfortunately the momentum was short lived as the Spartan’s then faced St. Lawrence University who delivered an 18-3 blow. The big victory over Mt. Ida will once again build the momentum for the team as they push towards conference play.

Sophomore goalie Brandon Myron might be a first year starter but he has made himself a home between the pipes with an even 50 percent save percentage through the first four games. Senior Louis Alhage has led the way in the field for the Spartans with 11 points on five goals and six assists. The big victory over Mt. Ida will once again build the momentum for the team as they push towards conference play.

 

Women’s Lacrosse- The Castleton women’s lacrosse team is off to a rougher start then the weather. The Spartans sit at 0-2 following tough losses to the University of New England and Western New England College.

While the ladies did suffer defeat, they didn’t go down easily. After starting slow against both UNE and WNEC, the Spartans showed some fortitude fighting back in the second half of both games falling to UNE 13-9 after trailing 6-2 at half, and just missing WNEC 9-8 after trailer 4-2 at halftime.

Sophomore goalie Samantha Hebb has been solid as a rock between the pipes for the Spartans in their first two games posting a 56 percent save percentage. Senior midfielder Grace Johnson has been the leading point scorer for the Spartans with four goals and two assists.

The Spartans will face Tufts University on Wednesday March 22. Let’s hope the ladies can turn it around against the Jumbos.

 

Softball- The Castleton softball team was the real lucky ones this week as they traveled to Florida to kick off their 2017 season. While Vermont got buried in snow, the Spartans started burying their opponents as they come back from Florida with a record of 4-2.

The ladies started their sunshine trip with three straight wins, battling Willmington to a 3-2 victory, followed by an 8-2 trouncing of Curry and then took another big win over Centenary 8-5. The last three games of the trip were not so squeaky clean as Marian edged out the Spartans 8-7 in extra innings, but the Spartans bounced back with an extra inning win of their own taking down Wisconsin- Superior 3-2. Sadly, the luck of the Irish was not their side this past Saturday s the ladies lost to North Central 9-0 to end their business trip.

The ladies look forward to a double header against Castleton’s instate rival, Norwich University on March 29.

 

Baseball- The baseball team wasn’t able to escape the storm completely as they traveled to Maryland this past weekend. The Spartans dropped the first game to Cortland State 13-4 before coming back in game two too win 6-3 over the Red Dragons.

This past weekends games give the team a 2-2 record to start the season. Following a big 10-0 opening win against Apprentice School, the Spartans quickly had the wind taken out of their sails as Tufts University beat them 6-4.

Jonathan Lindau and Deagan Poland lead the way in the batting average department with Lindau hitting .389 on 18 at bats and Deagan hitting .368 with three RBI’s on 19 at bats. Devin Hayes had a great season opener pitching for the Spartans as he went seven innings with ten strikeouts and no runs allowed against Apprentice.

The boy’s get back on the field against Middlebury on March 22.  

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