COLERAINE, Minn. – Junior #Megan Holmes# (Jr.-Gilbert, Minn./Mesabi East) had a frustrating experience today while leading the effort of the Saints women skiers in the 10-kilometer freestyle portion of the USSA Supertour and CCSA Central Region Qualifier in Coleraine, Minn.

Brutal cold temperatures overnight and a freshly-tilled course, combined with an early start number, had team captain Holmes feeling like she was skiing on sand, not snow. She pushed on, however, to lead the Saints with a 22nd place finish in the CCSA field, one place ahead of teammate, #Julia Curry# (So.-Woodbury, Minn.). Junior #Caroline Lund# (Jr.-Duluth, Minn./East) had her best race of the season to help move the Saints up from seventh yesterday to sixth as a team.

CXC Elite team member, Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis) won easily over yesterday's dominator, Kristina Strandberg, of Sweden, with a time of 27:48.7, one-tenth of a second shy of exactly a minute faster than Strandberg (28:48.6). Gustavus Adolphus senior, Kelly Chaudoin won her first collegiate race today, finishing nearly a minute ahead of Northern Michigan University's Marie Helen Soderman, with a time of 31:09.7 to Soderman's 32:05.4.

“We had a scare this morning when we were waxing the men's team skis and Megan reported to us that her skis were awful,” said Saints Head Coach Chad Salmela. “ We tested, and the snow completely changed, and we had to re-wax everyone, and we really thought we had it dialed in for these tough conditions. We couldn't figure it out because we re-tested and everything seemed right, but Megan was pretty bummed out. We later figured out that her choice of skis were not the same as those used with success in the cold of Alaska-the base structure was way too aggressive and that just kills you in slow, cold, snow like this. It was a good learning experience for her, but just too bad it happened at all. Still, with Megan and Julia both feeling pretty down today, Caroline Lund (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) came through and moved us up a notch from yesterday. It shows you how critical that third skier is in team scoring. I'm always happy with a team improvement.”

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

CCSA Regional Qualifier
Coleraine, MN
1 Chaudoin, Kelly Gustavus Adolphus 31:09.7
2 Soderman, Marie Helen Northern Michigan 32:05.4
3 Fjeldheim, Ingrid Northern Michigan 32:13.5
4 DeWitt, Laura Northern Michigan 32:15.3
5 Gillis, Christina Northern Michigan 32:25.0
6 Bergland, Anna Northern Michigan 32:33.9
7 Short, Shaina ST OLAF 32:39.3
8 Eppler, Erin Gustavus Adolphus 33:33.5
9 Klein, Jenna Michigan Tech 33:35.8
10 Marshall, Lindsey UWGB 34:07.8
22 Holmes, Megan St. Scholastica 36:24.8
23 Curry, Julia St. Scholastica 37:02.2
26 Lund, Caroline St. Scholastica 37:23.0
39 Mueller, Katherine St. Scholastica 39:23.6
44 Donars, Amelia St. Scholastica 41:08.4

TEAM SCORES
1 NMU        84
2 GAC        72
3 MTU        65
4 UWGB    53
5 STO        52
6 CSS        45
7 CSB       44
8 SCSU    29
9 NOR        6