Behind the first place tandem of Bjorn Bakken (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) and Tyler Kjorstad (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School), the St. Scholastica men's Nordic team captured the 2008 Minnesota Collegiate Championships title on Saturday in St. Cloud, Minn.

Racing on St. Cloud's Graystone Trails, Bakken and Kjorstad, along with the third place pairing of Jason Kask (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) and Stefan Hupperts (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View HS), raced away with the title scoring 18 points, outdistancing Gustavus Adolphus' 2nd place total of 14 points. St. John's was third with 10 points.

The Collegiate Championships teams two pairs of skiers from each institution racing first in a 5-kilometer sprint Freestyle event followed by a 5K Classic. Team scores assign point totals to each team's cumulative time from the two disciplines.

Bakken and Kjorstad narrowly raced to the top time in the 5K skate race with a combined time of 22 minutes, 28 seconds, only two seconds ahead of the top team from Gustavus.

The Saints duo built a winning cushion in the Classic combining for a finish in 25:42 while the Gustavus pair closed out the day in 25:48.

For the day Bakken and Kjorstad completed the skate and classic events in a championship-best 48:10, eight seconds ahead of Gustavus' pair.

Clinching the team championship for the Saints was the 3rd place duo of Kask and Hupperts who finished in a cumulative time of 50:36, 40 seconds ahead of the 4th place team from St. John's.