WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. – St. Scholastica sophomore #Jeremy Hecker# is not considered a sprint specialist but after Thursday's national ski racing opener in West Yellowstone, Mont., sprinting is not something he will ignore in the future.

In a unique National Ranking List (NRL) race Thursday, dubbed a “Sprint Showdown” by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), racers competed individually against the clock in a 1.5 kilometer sprint in the classic technique, then turned around an hour later and did the same in the freestyle, or skating technique. While the format is not the normal manner in which sprint competitions are contested, the USSA wished to establish a sprint ranking list in both the classic and freestyle techniques early in the year. The result was yesterday's “showdown.” The sprint competition is not a format used by the NCAA.

Both races were won by former World Cup mainstay, Drew Goldsack of Canada. He edged two-time U.S. Olympian, Lars Flora, in both races, while Alaska Pacific University's Mark Iverson and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation's Colin Rodgers took the final podium spot on the classic and freestyle races, respectively.

Hecker, who is focusing his final season as a junior competitor (under the age of 20), on making the U.S. Junior World Championships team, made big headway, finishing 29th overall in the classic sprint—the first of the two races—then bettered that with a 19th overall in the freestyle. Both results are the best ever by a Saints skier in a season opener Supertour event in West Yellowstone. But most importantly, Hecker finished the classic race as the fourth junior and the freestyle race as the top junior competitor—another Saints first at these competitions. The sprint is one of a string of races used to pick the U.S. Junior World Championships Team, which will be named the first week of January. Sophomores #Kasey Bacso# finished 38th and 64th, #Kelin Dunfee# posted 52nd and 41st, and Jake Morgan (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) placed 63rd and 56th for the Saints respectively.

“I felt like, looking back now, I could have gone harder in the classic race,” said Hecker. “But I kind of held back thinking I would need to in order to survive an hour later in the skate race.” The strategy seemed to work, as Hecker wound up the second junior competitor combining the two races, which is how the USSA will score the event for purposes of points lists and qualifying for U.S. international teams.

“It's always hard to know how to feel about a good performance early in the season,” said Saints Head Coach Chad Salmela. “It's so early, and you want make sure your athletes are in strong form for their most important races. But Jeremy's season is a little atypical of how I usually prep racers for the college season in that he has to be in good form in early and late January for his Junior World Team goals to come true, and he definitely needs some confidence in the sprint, which he got today.”

The results also give Salmela hope beyond the weekend. “If you just look at the focus Jeremy has given to this sport over his lifetime, and the way he's approached it this past year after a few years that have gotten him down, I don't think this is a flash in the pan for him. And more importantly, he's not hands down our top skier either, so it's a good sign for the men's team that he can post two top 30s overall in a Supertour event. It's very encouraging.”

Several Saints men and women take to the West Yellowstone course Friday for the women's 10km and men's 15km freestyle race, as well as Saturday for the women's 5km and men's 10km classic.

MEN'S 1.5KM SUPERTOUR SPRINT SHOWDOWN

WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT

11/25/10

CLASSIC

1 GOLDSACK, Drew 29 AWCA CAN National Team MSR 1 4:12.30 0

2 FLORA, Lars 32 APU Nordic Ski Center MM 1 4:15.29 +2.99

3 IVERSON, Mark 28 APU Nordic Ski Center MSR 2 4:16.64 +4.34

29 HECKER, Jeremy 19 College of St Scholastica 4:48.98 +36.68

38 BACSO, Kasey 19 College of St Scholastica 4:53.60 +41.30

52 DUNFEE, Kelin 19 College of St Scholastica 5:05.95 +53.65

63 MORGAN, Jake 20 College of St Scholastica 5:15.99 +1:03.69


FREESTYLE

1 GOLDSACK, Drew 29 AWCA CAN National Team MSR 1 3:44.53 0

2 FLORA, Lars 32 APU Nordic Ski Center MM 1 3:51.48 +6.95

3 RODGERS, Colin 29 Sun Valley Ski Education FoundMSR 2 3:53.69 +9.16

19 HECKER, Jeremy 19 College of St Scholastica 4:09.23 +24.70

41 DUNFEE, Kelin 19 College of St Scholastica 4:30.52 +45.99

56 MORGAN, Jake 20 College of St Scholastica 4:42.51 +57.98

65 BACSO, Kasey 19 College of St Scholastica 4:54.74 +1:10.21