The Women’s ski team remains perfect in its division adding another team victory on Saturday Jan. 29 in Eastern Collegiate Ski Conference-Thompson Division giant slalom action at Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme, NH. Castleton took the top four spots in the race and placed seven women in the top ten. The Spartans were led by Kristina Sundin, who earned her first victory of the season with a total two-run time of 2:17.86.

Brianna Kullberg finished in the second spot with a time of 2:18.92, while Amee Pierson rounded out the podium placing third with a time of 2:20.51. Kristin Leggett, Alexandra Nolan and Erica Luce all placed in the top ten.

The Spartans total team time was 417.29 and they had quite a cushion to beat runner-up Tufts University’s, who had a total team time of 442.91.

On the men’s side Castleton barely came out with a win after three of its five top skiers took falls during their races.

The Spartans were trailing 1.2 seconds behind Tufts but came back to take the overall victory by a mere 1.76 seconds.

Robert Burke led the Spartans placing third and had a total two-run time of 2:12.64. Bobby Jones and Justin Garritt were Castleton’s remaining team scorers placing fourth and sixth, out of 96 racers, with times of 2:15.54 and 2:16.39. Bartholomew Kallgren, Brandon Cohen and Thacher Karner also finished in the top ten, placing seventh, eighth and tenth for the Spartans respectvely.

Castleton’s total team time was 404.57, while Tufts came in second finishing at 406.33.

Head coach Chris Eder said although some of the top contenders on the men’s team struggled, the rest of the members of the team were there to pick up the slack.

“We were in second which is not a familiar spot for us,” he said. “We ran into some trouble but the guys in the back stepped up.”

Although both the men and the women’s team usually dominate their conference Eder says there is still room for improvement.

“Some of our skiers need to be more consistent and have two clean races,” Eder said.

Eder is looking to focus on one race at a time but says he and his team are focused and want to achieve the ultimate goal, which is getting back to nationals.

They will be held in Idaho later in the season.

“We’re happy with the results and everyone is focused and working hard,” he said.

The Spartans were back at it on Sunday and once again finished on top placing first on both the men and women’s side.

The team will travel to the Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway, N.H. on Saturday Feb. 5.