St. Lawrence University senior Nordic skier Caroline Carpenter opened the 2012 EISA Championships in style on Friday afternoon, posting a career-best fifth place finish in the women's 5k Freestyle race to lead the Saints in Middlebury, VT.

Carpenter, who has put together a fantastic senior season, extended her run of top-10 finishes to three thanks to a time of 14:26.9 to place in the top-5 for the first time. Her impressive finish helped the St. Lawrence women's team take fifth place in the event with 72.0 points, two ahead of Harvard University. Senior Leah Hart and first-year student Kate Mulcahy rounded out the scoring in 28th and 43rd place, respectively.

Junior Kelsey Nichols finished in 48th place for St. Lawrence, followed by first-year students Emma Duffany (61st) and Lauren Olson (64th).

Meanwhile, the men's Nordic team was led in the 10k Free by senior Adam Terko. The Shelburne, VT native raced in 26:44.6 to take 23rd place overall.

Joining Terko in the scoring for the Scarlet and Brown were sophomore Eric Lustgarten and rookie Austin Meng. Lustgarten was 34th followed by Meng in 44th position. The trio combined to put St. Lawrence in ninth place in the team standings.

Sophomore Bill Prescott (52nd) and first-years Will Frielinghaus (55th) and Evan Turner (57th) also represented the Saints in the 10k Free.

The University of Vermont, led by individual champion Caitlin Patterson, won the women's team title, while the Catamounts' men's team held off Dartmouth to claim the men's crown. Middlebury's Patrick Johnson won the individual title in the men's event.

Both St. Lawrence Nordic teams will compete again tomorrow, Saturday, February 25 in the classic races, the final events of the 2012 EISA Carnival season.