CABLE, Wis. – Senior #Tyler Kjorstad# (Sr.-Duluth, Minn./Marshall) replicated his eighth place finish from yesterday's 10 kilometer classic race with an eighth place again today, in a time of 34:26.3, in the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) regional qualifier 15 kilometer freestyle mass start at Telemark Resort, near Cable, Wis.

Northern Michigan University's Martin Banerud won his first CCSA race of the season after missing the first two qualifiers while trying to qualify for the Norwegian Under 23 World Championship Team. Banerud stormed back to the top of the CCSA with a blistering 15km time of 33:23.8. NMU teammates Phil Violett and Kevin Cutts made it a perfect sweep for the Wildcats with times of 33:48.8 respectively. Saints sophomore #Waylon Manske# (So.-Bemidji, Minn.) finished a strong 10th in a time of 34:54.1, and sophomore #Stefan Hupperts# (So.-North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) rounded out the Saints team scoring, finishing 28th in a time of 36:33.6. The Saints men finished 4th as a team.

“This was a good, solid weekend,” said Saints head coach, Chad Salmela. “Tyler had such a good classic that I think he felt a tad disappointed with an 8th in his stronger technique, but I see it as a very strong weekend for him, solidifying himself as one of the most consistent, top skiers in the region in both techniques.

Senior #Jason Kask# (Sr.-Duluth, Minn./East), normally one of the Saints top skiers, sat out today, needing a rest, which put the heavy duty for team scoring on sophomores Stefan Hupperts (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View HS) and #Matt Nistler# (So.-Bemidji, Minn.), both skiing very strong today. “I knew we had a good chance to do well as a team, but we just had to let Jason rest, which put a bit of team pressure on Stefan and Matt. They both totally stepped up, and we were able to take out Fairbanks as a team for the first time as a program, but fell just a tad shy of Green Bay for third. I was really impressed with the way those guys handled the situation.”

The overall winner of the USSA Supertour competition, which happened simultaneously with the college race, was the US Ski Team's Leif Zimmerman (Bozeman, MT), in a time of 33:10.3, out pacing 2006 Olympian, Lars Flora (Anchorage, AK) by 1.4 seconds. Brian Gregg of the CXC Elite Team (Hayward, WI) finished third in 33:12.6.

The Saints return to CCSA action in two weeks at the CCSA Regional Qualifier at Camp Ripley, near Little Falls, Minn.

CCSA REGIONAL QUALIFIER
TELEMARK RESORT
MEN'S 15KM FREESTYLE MASS START

1. BANERUD, Martin NMU 33:23.8
2. VIOLETT, Phil NMU 33:48.8
3. CUTTS, Kevin NMU 34:05.6
4. LANG, Jesse MTU 34:08.9
5. OCARIZ, Santiago UWGB 34:12.4
6. BRABBIT, Jens GAC 34:12.6
7. LUND, Oskar MTU 34:26.1
8. KJORSTAD, Tyler CSS 34:26.3
9. SINGLETON, Justin NMU 34:50.6
10. MANSKE, Waylon CSS 34:54.1
28. HUPPERTS, Stefan CSS 36:33.6
30. NISTLER, Matt CSS 36:34.2
39. LEACH, Kirk CSS 37:52.7
45. BOYLES, Eric CSS 38:44.1
52. BYE, Anthony CSS 39:16.9

TEAM SCORES
1 NMU 78
2 MTU 63
3 UWGB 51
4 CSS 49
5 UAF 47
6 GAC 36
7 STO 27
8 SJU 21
9 NOR 6