COLERAINE, Minn. – For the first time in program history, the St. Scholastica men's ski team finished in runner-up position in a Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) conference competition.

#Tyler Kjorstad# (Sr.-Duluth, Minn./Marshall), #Waylon Manske# (So.-Bemidji, Minn.), and #Jason Kask#'s (Sr.-Duluth, Minn./East) 70 points were just enough to edge out Michigan Tech's 69 points for second spot, to winner Northern Michigan University's 81 points.

Today, it came down to tenths of seconds to determine the Saints team leader as well as the team standings. Senior Kjorstad and sophomore Manske have gone on leadership streaks throughout the early season. Today it was a blink of an eye that separated the two, and half-a blink for Kjorstad to better Michigan Tech's top skier, Jesse Lang, who managed to sandwich himself at one-tenth of a second between the two teammates in 5th place, with Kjorstad in 4th and Manske in 6th. The tenths of seconds largely determined the team score between the Saints and the Huskies. Had Lang come out the best of the three, MTU would have edged the Saints from their second-place finish.

Kjorstad, who has lagged in race form since sub-zero temperatures in Anchorage and Duluth curtailed the Saints training plans for more than two weeks, re-found the form that had him looking like one of the top contenders in the CCSA in December races. The senior, who was clearly not content with his 14th place finish in yesterday's 10 kilometer classic event, knocked the cobwebs off, and charged the 10 kilometer freestyle course to a fourth place finish in the college race, 17th overall in the USSA Supertour. The performance tied a Saints program-best finish in CCSA competition held by Bjorn Bakken (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) last season at the CCSA Central Regionals. However, roughly fifteen minutes before Kjorstad crossed the line for the program best finish, it was the sophomore Manske who posted one of the top times for collegiate skiers only to see it fall five times before the dust would settle. In the end, Manske finished sixth, only two-tenths of a second from Kjorstad in fourth. Senior Jason Kask (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) rounded out the Saints scoring efforts with a 15th place finish, solidifying the second-place team finish.

Matt Liebsch of the CXC Elite team from Minneapolis out-paced the entire USSA Supertour field with a time of 24:02.3. Liebsch finished third in the same discipline earlier this month at the US National Championships in Anchorage, Alaska. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's Santiago Ocariz won the collegiate competition in a time of 25:45.8.

“This was just a great, great day,” said Saints Head Coach Chad Salmela. “Brad (Nelson-Saints assistant coach) and I discussed after yesterday's guys performances-knowing they were not satisfied-that it looked like we were trending in the right direction and that skating was our strength. We had a hunch today was going to go this way, but you just never know.

The coaches got a scare before the men's race that had them worried the day was possibly a total loss. "We thought we missed the wax after the first couple girls came in with bad reports," said Salmela. "Cold snow is so hard to deal with, and I thought we might have blown the day for the guys, but it all just worked out in the end. The whole team skied really well today, to a man. Jason has been trying to find his form, and he skied well today but still wasn't even quite there, so to finish second with him still not running on all cylinders-we'll take it. It shows you what a team effort it takes do this even when your scorers don't all have great races. We've beaten Tech before, but not this Tech team. This Tech team is stronger than we've ever seen, and to beat them is a huge feather in our skiers' caps.”

The Supertour and CCSA regional qualifiers continue next Saturday and Sunday at Telemark Resort in Cable, Wis.

CCSA Regional Qualifier
10km Freestyle
January 25th, Coleraine, MN

1 Ocariz, Santiago UWGB 25:45.8
2 Cook, Tim Northern Michigan 25:53.5
3 Singleton, Justin Northern Michigan 26:11.2
4 Kjorstad, Tyler St. Scholastica 26:27.0
5 Lang, Jesse Michigan Tech 26:27.1
6 Manske, Waylon St. Scholastica 26:27.2
7 Cutts, Kevin Northern Michigan 26:27.7
8 Brabbit, Jens Gustavus Adolphus 26:31.5
9 Mundahl, Erik Michigan Tech 26:41.7
10 Violett, Phil Northern Michigan 26:42.5
15 Kask, Jason St. Scholastica 27:23.9
25 Nistler, Matt St. Scholastica 28:31.9
29 Hupperts, Stefan St. Scholastica 28:55.9
35 Leach, Kirk St. Scholastica 29:51.2
37 Boyles, Eric St. Scholastica 30:02.3
44 Bye, Anthony St. Scholastica 31:07.8


TEAM SCORES
1 NMU 81
2 CSS 70
3 MTU 69
4 UWGB 65
5 GAC 54
6 STO 42
7 SJU 39
8 NOR 24