MARQUETTE, Mich. – The St. Scholastica men's Nordic ski team placed third with 15 points today at the Wildcat Invitational.

Upon crossing the finish line of the first regional competition of his final season in the Saints uniform, Senior #Tyler Kjorstad# (Sr.-Duluth, Minn./Marshall) didn't look overly pleased with his race. Regardless of personal satisfaction, Kjorstad's effort earned him a solid seventh-place finish with a time of 29:09, in the men's 10km freestyle. Wisconsin-Green Bay's Santiago Ocariz edged out Northern Michigan's Phill Viollett by one second to take the win in a time of 27:33.

Sophomore #Waylon Manske# (So.-Bemidji, Minn.), also sensing he has not yet hit his stride, tied for 9th position, just fifteen seconds behind teammate Kjorstad. Sophomore, #Stefan Hupperts# (So.-North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View), the only other Saint skier to take the start today, finished 20th in a time of 32:09. The Saints men finished 3rd, behind Northern Michigan and Green Bay, with Michigan Tech finishing 4th.

"I'm really enthused with what I saw today of the guys who skied," said Saints Head Coach, Chad Salmela. Much of the Saints squad stayed home nursing colds or recovering from the team's training camp in West Yellowstone, Mont. "We have a lot of people trying to get healthy and rested again, and we dropped from a roster of 8 for this weekend, to 3 this morning, when our lone woman to come, #Megan Holmes# (Jr.-Gilbert, Minn./Mesabi East), woke up with a sore throat," continued Salmela. "I think Stefan was a little off his game, but considering what I saw of Tyler and Waylon, knowing where we are in our preparation, I couldn't have expected any more today. This is a good start overall."

The three men skiers take the tracks tomorrow for the men's 10km classic at Blueberry Ridge, near Marquette, Mich.

WILDCAT INVITATIONAL
Marquette, MI
12/6/08
Men's 10km Freestyle

1. Santiago Ocariz, UWGB  27:33
2. Phill Viollett, NMU  27:34
3. Sindre Stokke, NMU  28:04
4. Andre Watt, CXC/Duluth  28:39
5. Tim Cook, NMU  28:42
6. Chris Bowler, Unattached  29:06
7. Tyler Kjorstad (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School), CSS  29:09
8. Kyle Fredrickson, UWGB  29:12
9. Waylon Manske (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS), CSS  29:24
9. Kevin Cutts, NMU  29:24
20. Stefan Hupperts (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View HS), CSS  32:09

Team Scores
1. NMU 30
2. UWGB  21
3. CSS  15
4. MTU 12