CASTLETON, Vt. – For the first time in 316 days, Castleton University student-athletes will don their Spartan uniforms on Saturday as two teams—men's basketball and men's Alpine skiing—return to competition on the road. Two more teams—both of Castleton's Nordic skiing programs—return to action on Sunday.
The men's basketball team tips off its season at 2 p.m. in North Dartmouth, Mass., in a Little East Conference matchup against last season's conference runners-up, UMass Dartmouth. The men's basketball squad returns seven players from a season ago, including each of its three leading scorers in Remy Brown, Amadou Diakite and Terrin Roy. Oluwadare Sowunmi—the team's second-leading rebounder a season ago—is also back, while Eric Shaw—who averaged 7.8 points per game in 2018-19—returns from an injury that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign. Five newcomers have also joined the program for the 2021 season and will look to make an impact in the early going.
The Spartan men's alpine ski team will hit the slopes at Burke Mountain for a pair of FIS slalom races, competing against a slew of skiers from across the state. The program returns All-American and former USCSA National Champion Paul Rechberger and teammates Hans Poelmann and Wade Hirschbuhl. Seven new faces have also joined the program in 2021.
On Sunday, the men's and women's nordic ski teams take to the trail for a classic race at Prospect Mountain in Woodford, Vt., in their first action since claiming both USCSA National Titles in March 2020. The 2020 season was a culmination of the Spartans' continual growth as a program, and finished with the men's and women's programs both sitting atop the podium at the end of National Championship week at Lake Placid. The men's program repeated as overall National Champions, defending their title with a first-place finish in the classic sprint, a second-place finish in the 7.5k freestyle and a third-place finish in the 15k freestyle. The women found their way atop the podium for the first time in program history, claiming the overall crown as well as the National Championship in the 7.5k freestyle and 15k freestyle. The women also finished second in the classic sprint.
