EAST BURKE, Vt. – The Castleton University men's alpine ski team made its 2021 debut on Saturday, taking to the slopes of Burke Mountain in a FIS Slalom race.

The 100-skier field featured racers from each of the top Vermont ski academies, as well as collegiate racers from NCAA ski programs such as Saint Michael's College, Dartmouth College and Boston College in addition to the Spartans.

Lorenzo Mencaccini had an impressive debut showing for Castleton, earning a ninth place finish in the morning session before landing a No. 2 finish in the afternoon runs. Paul Rechberger checked in with a 17th-place mark in the morning and a 16th-place finish in the afternoon, while Christopher Kerven notched a 34th-place finish in the morning. Christian Meyer and Tripp Thomas notched back-to-back finishes in the morning session as well, checking in at 67th and 68th overall, respectively.

Mencaccini led the way in both sessions, posting runs of 49.40 and 48.85 in the morning for a combined time of 1:38.25, followed by times of 53.67 and 45.73 in the afternoon for a combined time of 1:39.40. He sat in fourth place after the opening run of the afternoon race, but threw down the fifth-fastest second run to move up two places on the leaderboard. Rechberger clocked in with runs of 50.65 and 48.61 in the morning session for a time of 1:39.26. His afternoon runs finished with times of 55.53 and 46.80 for a combined time of 1:42.33. He moved up two slots on the leaderboard after the second run.

Kerven finished inside the top half of the field in the first race of the day, laying down runs of 52.06 and 50.80 for a combined time of 1:42.86. Meyer's times of 56.10-54.36-1:50.46 landed him just in front of Thomas, who notched runs of 56.12 and 54.59 for a total time of 1:50.71. Both racers moved up nine spots on the leaderboard after their second runs in the race.

Burke Mountain Academy's Thomas Hoffman won both races on his home mountain, posting combined times of 1:35.63 in the first race and 1:38.60 in the second.

The Spartan men are on the slopes once again on Friday, January 29, at Stowe Mountain for a pair of FIS Giant Slalom races. The Castleton women are scheduled to start their season Monday, January 25, with a FIS GS race at Smuggler's Notch.