MIDDLEBURY, Vermont ??” Colby College alpine skier Warner Nickerson (New Hampton School/Tilton, N.H.) won two silver medals last month at the FIS-World University Games. Nickerson is now an Eastern Championship winner.

Nickerson, a senior with aspirations of making the U.S. National Ski Team, won the slalom at the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) Championships hosted by Middlebury College on Friday.

Nickerson won his eighth EISA race in the past two seasons, but more importantly won his first Eastern Championship title. He had a two-run total time of 1:22.63 in holding off a 1:22.83 by runner-up Will Christianson of Williams College.

Nickerson is the first male skier to win an Eastern title since alpine skiing moved to Division I status at Colby in 1993. Jenny Lathrop (North Conway, N.H.) won a women’s slalom title in 2003.

After leading off with a 41.47 to take first after the opening run, Nickerson added a 41.16 second run to win the title. Christianson had a better second run (41.08), but had a 41.75 on his opener. Nickerson goes for an Eastern sweep Saturday in giant slalom racing.

Charlie Reed (Park City, Utah) placed 16th for the Colby men in 1:25.44 and Rory Kelly (Charlottesville, Va.) was 29th in 1:27.02. The men’s alpine team was fifth in the slalom team standings with 93.5 points.

Abbi Lathrop (North Conway, N.H.) was eighth for the Colby women’s alpine team with runs of 49.22 and 48.09 for a 1:37.31 total time in the slalom. Nicole Wessen (Rockland, Mass.) took 13th in 1:38.16 (48.87, 49.29) and Siri Ashton (East Burke, Vt.) was 19th in 1:40.20. The Colby women’s alpine team also placed fifth in team results with 95 points.

In Nordic skiing, men’s skier Fred Bailey (Andover, Maine) was 23rd in 31:36.5 in the 10-kilometer classic event. Kris Dobie (Walpole, N.H.) was 33rd with a 31:59.4 to help the Mules take eighth place.

Alex Jospe (Pittsford, N.Y.) led the Colby women’s Nordic team by placing 28th in the 5-kilometer classic race. The women’s Nordic team finished in ninth place.

In the overall team standings, Colby is sixth out of 18 schools with 256.5 points heading into Saturday’s competitions.