Complete Results

COLERAINE, Minn. -- As winter challenges snow sports worldwide, the Saints Hilltop Invitational slated for The Marshall School in Duluth, needed to move to Coleraine, Minnesota's Mt. Itasca where a 2.3 kilometer loop of manmade snow challenged the Central Collegiate Ski Association's best skiers in the first in-region NCAA qualifying event.  All CCSA teams were in full attendance, making it the most competitive Hilltop Invitational yet.

CSS junior Jeremy Hecker (Andover, Minn./Andover HS (Minnesota-Twin Cities)) set a high precedent for the unfolding conference racing schedule, taking fourth in the men's 9.4km freestyle race, in a time of 21:02.3.  Starting fast, Hecker hit the 2km mark in second overall, just 5.8 seconds off the leader, Tyler Kornfield of Alaska Fairbanks, who won his first U.S. National Championship title a little over a week earlier in Rumford, Maine. 

Hecker started just seconds before Kornfield came through on his first of four laps.  Skiing just seconds ahead of Kornfield on course his entire first loop with Kornfield on his second, Hecker came through at 2 km in second place to Kornfield, but had six skiers within three seconds, setting up a tight race for the podium over the ensuing 7.4km. Hecker continued to hold off Kornfield on course until Kornfield's peeled away to the finish line.  Hecker then needed to go at it alone for one more 2.3km lap, but held on to finish just 7.1 seconds off the podium.  Kornfield led wire to wire, winning in a time of 20:32.9.  Northern Michigan's Kjell-Christian Markset posted 20:44.3 for second.  Markset's teammate, Erik Soderman, clocked 20:55.2 for third.

Hecker's fourth place finish ties Bjorn Bakken and Waylon Manske (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS) for the best CCSA finish in Saints program history.

Saints sophomore Scott Johanik (Washburn, Wis./Washburn HS ) started slower, but picked his way up the results late in the race to finish a strong 13th.  Junior Kasey Bacso (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) rounded out the Saints scoring finishing 18th, just three-tenths of a second out of 16th.  The Saints finished fourth as a team, just one point shy of Michigan Tech in third.  Northern Michigan won the team title.  Alaska Fairbanks finished second.  The Saints depth was impressive with six men finishing in the top 25 of the 76-skier field.

“I knew the guys would ski solid coming off a good training camp last week in Northern Minnesota, and they did that and then some today,” said Saints head coach Chad Salmela.  “Jeremy skied like a veteran, in contention the whole race in one of the most stacked fields we could have faced this early in the season.  But it wasn't just Jeremy today.  We had the deepest team performance that I can ever remember in our program's history, and I think our guys are coming into good form across the board.”

The Saints Hilltop Invitational concludes Sunday with a 1.5km CCSA Individual Sprint Championship.