CABLE, Wis. – Sophomore #Julia Curry# (So.-Woodbury, Minn.) improved to a 22nd place finish to lead the Saints women skiers to a seventh place team finish, with a time of 26:17.3, in the women's 10 kilometer freestyle mass start in Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) action today at Telemark Resort near Cable, Wis.

Starting conservatively, Curry weaved her way from deep in the pack to mid-pack by the first of two 5km laps, holding 28th place at halfway. But a strong second half moved Curry to her best finish this season in a full CCSA field. Northern Michigan University's Marie Helen Soderman outpaced teammate Laura DeWitt by 4.7 seconds to take the victory, while the University of Alaska Fairbank's Anna Coulter finished another nine-tenths of a second behind DeWitt to finish third.

Junior #Megan Holmes# (Jr.-Gilbert, Minn./Mesabi East) crossed the line in 32nd place with a time of 27:08.9, and junior #Caroline Lund# (Jr.-Duluth, Minn./East), the final scorer and finisher for the Saints, finished 36th in 27:40.9. The women's effort moved the Saints up one spot from yesterday's classic event to finish in seventh.

“We have a lot of women on the sidelines this week for a lot of different reasons, and with #Amelia Donars# (So.-Ely, Minn./Memorial) falling ill shortly after the start and needing to stop, the three women out there on the course had to do all the work. They had their backs against the wall,” said Saints Head Coach Chad Salmela. “Julia skied her best race of the year, while Megan skied stronger than yesterday, but it was really Caroline who had to pick up some slack, and she did that. We snuck ahead of St. John's for the first time since the Minnesota Championships, with a greatly reduced team, so I feel this was a really good day for the team.”

The overall winner in the simultaneous USSA Supertour for the second straight day was Sweden's Kristina Strandberg, in a time of 22:53.1, edging out Nicole Deyong (Sun Valley, ID) by 1.5 seconds. CXC Elite Team's Johanna Winters (Minneapolis, MN), finished third.

The Saints compete in CCSA regional qualifier action in two weeks at Camp Ripley near Little Falls, Minn.

CCSA CENTRAL REGIONAL QUALIFIER
TELEMARK RESORT
WOMEN'S 10KM FREESTYLE MASS START

1. SODERMAN, Marie Helen NMU 24:29.0
2. DEWITT, Laura NMU 24:33.7
3. COULTER, Anna UAF 24:35.6
4. PIERSON, Julia UAF 24:36.2
5. BERGLAND, Anna NMU 24:47.6
6. SCHNURR, Theresia UAF 24:48.3
7. KLEIN, Jenna MTU 24:49.1
8. FJELDHEIM, Ingrid NMU 24:54.4
9. SHORT, Shaina St. Olaf 25:08.3
10. GILLIS, Christina NMU 25:17.3
23. CURRY, Julia CSS 26:17.3
32. HOLMES, Megan CSS 27:08.9
36. LUND, Caroline CSS 27:40.9

TEAM SCORES
1 NMU 85
2 UAF 80
3 MTU 65
4 UWGB 49
5 GAC 45
6 STO 44
7 CSS 36
8 CSB 35
9 SCSU 20
10 NOR 5