Complete Results
HOUGHTON, Mich. – St. Scholastica junior #Eleanor Magnuson# led the Saints for the second straight day at the Husky Challenge women's 5km classic in Houghton, Mich. on Sunday improving one spot from her freestyle race Saturday, with an eighth place finish in a time of 20:04.3.
Magnuson finished 57.3 seconds down to Northern Michigan's Marie Helen Soderman, whose time of 19:06.9 outpaced two Huskies, Malin Eriksson and Sarah Daniels, by 10.5 and 14.1 seconds, respectively.
CSS freshman #Brooke Adams# skied a stronger classic race, dusting off the rust of the first day, finishing just 7.8 seconds behind Magnuson, in 20:12.0, but another four places back in 12th. Magnuson finished on the good side of just 2.2 seconds that would have put her in 10th, while Adams finished just half a second from 11th. Senior #Julia Curry# posted a stronger Sunday performance as well in 14th.
A strong showing by Michigan Tech gave the Wildcats of NMU a scare, coming within two points, as Tech put two in the top three, while NMU posted 1st, 4th, and 6th. NMU prevailed with a score of 28 to Tech's 46. Green Bay finished third and the Saints fourth.
The Saints women benefited by skiing second in the running order as the coaches had dialed in what looked to be a very difficult waxing day. “For the men, we were scrambling,” said Saints head coach #Chad Salmela# about finding a kick wax combination that would work in the newly fallen snow. “The conditions kept us on our toes, but we got the wax right for the guys, and we could just breathe a sigh of relief as the guys came across the line with good reports. We just adjusted a little for the ladies and we got through a tough waxing day without negative impact on performance.”
Day two of regional competition went better for the Saints women, and Salmela felt the weekend was a good first step for the lady Saints. “Yesterday it looked like we were waking up. Today, we had our shoes on and were out the door,” said Salmela of the classic performances. “I'm happy with where we are, knowing we still have work to do and our top form is a few weeks out. If I felt this was the best we could do, I'd be a little bummed, as would our skiers, but I like December to have a whole host of options going forward, and we have only improvement ahead of us. Sometimes it's hard on the ego to race and perhaps be a little under-ready for the intensity, of say, a team like Northern Michigan, but this is how we have to approach our form for the entire season with where we are as individuals. In that respect, this weekend was mission accomplished.”
Combined scoring with the men for the weekend put the Saints third of the four teams present.
Team Scores
NMU 28
MTU 26
UWGB 15
CSS 9
Classic Women/Men Combined Team Scores
NMU 57
MTU 47
CSS 31
UWGB 21
Overall Combined Team Scores
NMU 118
MTU 76
CSS 67
UWGB 51
