Toggenburg Mountain - With a one-two-three finish, sophomores Sophie LeBlanc (Cumberland, ME) and Jill Clevenger (LaGrangeville, NY) and junior Meghan Cleason (Canandaigua, NY) swept the podium for the Clarkson University Alpine Ski team on day one of the West Point Invitational.
The Golden Knights' women's team, competing in the giant slalom, cruised to a first-place finish, while the men's team came in first but with a little stiffer competition, slipping past Colgate for top honors in the giant slalom. Sunday's results were the same, as the Knights' men took first, led by David Simon (Montvale, NJ), and the women finished first as well, paced by Cleason.
LeBlanc was first in both of her runs with a combined time of 1:27.99, while Clevenger was a second behind with a pair of second-place finishes in her runs. Cleason took third with a time of 1:31.37 and senior Emma Masur (Wayne, NJ) came in eighth. Freshman Katherine Jondro (Waitsfield, VT) recovered from a tough first run and was third in her second try, placing 14th overall.
With sophomores JP Phaneuf and Cedrik Proteau-Dubois racing in Canada this weekend, the Golden Knights weren't assured of an easy victory. Clarkson's men still held off Colgate for first-place as sophomore John Bennett (Queensbury, NY) came in fourth overall with a time of 1:25.90 to lead the Knights. Senior Drew Bonner (Killington, VT) was fifth in 1:26.29 and junior Clayton Reynolds (Rome, NY) took sixth in 1:26.42 to round out Clarkson's scoring. Sophomore Connor O'Toole (Owasco, NY) placed eighth and freshman David Simon finished 24th overall, but was the top skier after the first run.
On Sunday, Cleason and Simon were the top performers for the Knights. Cleason won the slalom with a time of 1:27.29, posting the top times in each run, while Clevenger came in second again, repeating her performance from Saturday. Emma Masur finished sixth overall with a time of 1:38.50.
Simon recovered from his rough start on Saturday, winning both runs for an impressive time of 1:14.64. Reynolds came in fourth overall in 1:20.74 and Bill O'Connor (Mahopac, NY) was third for the Knights, finishing sixth overall.