Men’s Basketball

The Spartans have had a mediocre start to the season in men’s hoops, going 3-5 over the first eight games. They have gone 0-3 against conference foes Plymouth State, Southern Maine, and UMass Boston, which are their only three conference games thus far. Head Coach Paul Culpo’s team has beaten Rivier, Bridgewater State and Northern Vermont-Lyndon. Senior Tank Roberson is leading the team in scoring and assists with 14.6 points per game and 7.1 assists per game. Castleton will hope to gain some momentum as they play at Fitchburg State on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 6:00PM and then at St. Josephs (Conn.) on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 2:00PM.

Wrestling

Since beating Norwich in a match on Nov. 14, Spartans wrestling has been facing some stiff competition. Castleton reached #21 in the National Rankings, but on Nov. 17 they traveled to WPI to take on Stevens Tech, who were #24 at the time, Roger Williams, who were #14 at the time, and WPI, who were #12 at the time. The Spartans lost to all three teams. They bounced back two weeks later, finishing second at the Ted Reece invitational in Gorham Maine. On Saturday, the Spartans had another dual competition at WPI, facing the Coast Guard, who were #25 in the nation, SUNY Oneonta, and Wabash, who were #5 in the nation. Castleton was defeated by the Coast Guard and Wabash, but they pulled off a close victory against SUNY Oneonta 20-19. Max Tempel went 3-0 in that match and Frank Darwak went 2-0. The Spartans will take on New England College in Henniker on Friday at 7:00PM.

Men’s Track

Freshman Trevor Rose and senior Tayler Larmie have impressed thus far in throwing as the Men’s Track and Field season begins. At the first meet, the Smith Winter Invitational at Smith College, Rose set a Castleton school record and qualified for regionals in shot put with a distance of 13.44 meters. Following Rose, junior Morgan Rainville, the previous record-holder (13.33 meters) came in second, and Larmie came in third. At the next meet, the Saints Holiday Relays at Saint Lawrence University, Rose bested his own school record and Larmie broke a school record as well. Rose’s new record in the shot put is 13.81 meters, giving him first place. Larmie finished second in the weight throw competition with his record-breaking distance of 14.53 meters. Castleton also had second place finishes by Joseph Ouimet in the pole vault and in the 4×200 meter relay. Their next meet is not until Jan. 12 at the Middlebury Winter Classic.

Women’s Track

At the Smith Winter Invitational at Smith College on December 1, senior Bronwen Hopwood broke the Castleton school record in the 400-meter race with a time of 1:04.29, placing fourth in the event. It was her first ever collegiate track meet. Lydia Maier, the previous record-holder, placed fifth behind Hopwood. Senior Ally Stearns qualified for regionals in the weight throw with a distance of 13.53 meters, placing third in the event. On Saturday, at the Saints Holiday Relays at, Hopwood broke her own record in the 400-meter with a time of 1:03.86, placing second. She then broke the school record in the long jump with 4.71 meters, earning her a third-place finish. Hopwood finished top five in all four events she competed in. Stearns took second place in the weight throw with 13.45 meters, besting her distance from the previous meet. Their next meet is Jan. 12 at the Middlebury Winter Classic.

Nordic Skiing

Men’s and Women’s Nordic Skiing kicked off their season at the Johnsburg Nordic Fest on Saturday and Sunday at the North Creek Snow Bowl at Gore Mountain. Both the men and women participated in the 10k classic race. John Paluszek led the men, finishing third overall with a time of 20:14.40. Andrew Doherty finished just three places behind him, in sixth-place. Castleton skiers David Harvey, Devin Perry, Alex Williams, Jared Wheeler, and Ryan Boeke placed 8-12 overall respectively. Megan Greene and Emily Greene finished third and fourth overall respectively to lead the Castleton women. Megan was less than a minute behind the second-place finisher. The men also participated in the freestyle sprint, a tournament style bracket where five Castleton skiers raced. Paluszek had the top overall time with a 3:00.90 sprint. Nordic Skiing will compete again at the U.S. Senior Nationals in Craftsbury, VT from Jan. 3-8.