CABLE, Wis. – Coming off a personal best fourth place finish in the 10-kilometer freestyle in Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) action last weekend at Mt. Itasca in Coleraine, Minn., Saints senior #Tyler Kjorstad# (Sr.-Duluth, Minn./Marshall) knew it would take a strong showing in the classical discipline to make a serious bid for his first NCAA Championship berth. Today at Telemark Resort near Cable, Wis., Kjorstad upped the ante, throwing down a personal and program best in classic technique, finishing eighth in the men's 10km classic race with a full CCSA field on hand. Last weekend, CCSA powerhouse, University of Alaska Fairbanks, was absent.

Kjorstad finished just over minute off of winner, Phil Violett, with a time of 31:54.4. Violett won in time of 30:44.0. Sophomore, #Waylon Manske# (So.-Bemidji, Minn.) tripped the clock at 33:26.1, and senior #Jason Kask# (Sr.-Duluth, Minn./East) at 33:52.2, to finish 22nd and 26th respectively, to round out the Saints' team scoring to place the Saints 5th on the day as a team.

The event was also a USSA Supertour with a star-studded US Ski Team presence. The overall Supertour winner was Bryan Cook of the CXC Elite Team, (Marquette, MI) in a time of 29:15.4 to edge 2006 Olympian, Lars Flora (Anchorage, AK) by 14.2 seconds. Dave Chamberlain of team Fischer XC (Caribou, ME) finished third. Duluthian, CXC Elite Team member, and Saints volunteer assistant coach, Andre Watt, finished a Supertour career-best, fifth.

“We have known that Tyler's classic has been coming along, but we've just been waiting for him to find his race form and comfort zone in the technique, in a race, and just let it all hang out,” said Saints Head Coach Chad Salmela. “Tyler really got his form back last Sunday in the freestyle race after fighting to find his form again after all the cold weather we've experienced. This was just a great day for him personally; a top performance for the program in classic technique, and it will give him a lot of confidence for the rest of the year in classical technique.”

NCAA Championship qualification requires athletes to score the best two classic and freestyle technique races of five races in each technique over the season. The central region has nine slots up for grabs to the championship, held in Rumford, Maine, March 11-14. “He knew he needs to match his freestyle form, at least within reason, to have a legitimate shot at NCAAs,” continued Salmela. “This takes a little pressure off with two more qualifying weekends left in the season.”

The Saints men continue competition tomorrow with a 15km Mass Start Freestyle race.

CCSA CENTRAL REGIONAL QUALIFIER
TELEMARK RESORT
MEN'S 10KM CLASSIC
1. VIOLETT, Phil, NMU :30:44.0
2. BANERUD, Martin NMU :30:53.5
3. OCARIZ, Santiago UWGB 31:29.8
4. CUTTS, Kevin NMU :31:31.7
5. WATTERDAL, Oeyvind UAF :31:38.2
6. LUND, Oskar MTU :31:39.5
7. SABO, Ray UAF :31:48.1
8. KJORSTAD, Tyler CSS :31:54.4
9. BRABBIT, Jens GAC :32:01.9
10. COOK, Tim :32:08.9
22. MANSKE, Waylon CSS 33:26.1
26. KASK, Jason CSS 33:52.2
35. NISTLER, Matt CSS 34:44.9
40. LEACH, Kirk CSS 35:26.6
48. HUPPERTS, Stefan CSS 36:14.3
55. BYE, Anthony CSS 37:04.9
57. BOYLES, Eric CSS 37:24.8

TEAM SCORES
1. NMU 86
2. UAF 71
3. MTU 63
4. UWGB 59
5. CSS 54
6. GAC 42
7. STO 41
8. NOR 17