LITTLE FALLS, Minn. – Junior #Megan Holmes# (Jr.-Gilbert, Minn./Mesabi East) led the Saints women's efforts today in the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) Championships today at Camp Ripley near Little Falls, Minn., with a 30th place finish in the women's 15km mass start freestyle.

Holmes finished just under four minutes behind Northern Michigan's Laura Dewitt, who narrowly escaped with the win in a pack sprint to the finish, in a time of 42:32. Dewitt held off nine other skiers within two seconds to take the win. Northern Michigan swept the top three.

Junior #Caroline Lund# (Jr.-Duluth, Minn./East) finished 27 seconds behind Holmes in 35th place in a time of 46:57, while sophomore #Julia Curry# (So.-Woodbury, Minn.) finished one spot and one second behind in 36th in 46:58. The team finished seventh on the day and on the two-day weekend score.

“This is a course and the type of race where you really have to push and be aggressive on all the transitions right from the gun; to maintain contact with any of the groups out there,” commented Chad Salmela. “I think our women learned a lot today about what it takes to be competitive on a course like this and a long, mass start race like this. I think the distance was daunting and on the whole, we started and skied a bit more under control than we needed to. It was a great learning experience and something for them to build off of for two weeks from now.”

The Saints compete in the fifth and final NCAA qualifier of the season at the NCAA Central Regional Championships in Houghton, Michigan, February 28th through March 1st. The qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Skiing Championships will be named at the completion of the Central Regionals.

CCSA NCAA QUALIFIER
CAMP RIPLEY, MN
WOMEN'S 15KM MASS START FREESTYLE
1 Laura Dewitt NMU 42:32
2 Marie Helen Soderman NMU 42:33
3 Ingrid Fjeldheim NMU 42:33
4 Elizabeth Quinley MTU 42:33
5 Lindsey Marshall UWGB 42:33
6 Theresia Schnurr UAF 42:34
7 Anna Bergland NMU 42:34
8 Anna Coulter UAF 42:34
9 Christina Gillis NMU 42:34
10 Julia Pierson UAF 42:35
30 Megan Holmes (Gilbert, Minn./Mesabi East HS) CSS 46:30
35 Caroline Lund (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) CSS 46:57
36 Julia Curry (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) CSS 46:58
51 Amelia Donars (Ely, Minn./Ely Memorial HS) CSS 51:30

TEAM SCORES
1 NMU 96
2 UAF 81
3 MTU 73
4 GAC 68
5 UWGB 66
6 CSB 57
7 CSS 38
8 SCSU 32
9 STO 27
10 NOR 13

WEEKEND TOTAL TEAM SCORES
1 NMU 187
2 UAF 162
3 MTU 152
4 GAC 134
5 UWGB 132
6 CSB 111
7 CSS 77
8 SCSU 64
9 STO 58
10 NOR 25