Complete Results
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) -- The Saints Christmas Classic was inherited first by Michigan Tech University, then Northern Michigan University, due to poor snow cover in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but another warming trend in Duluth threatened to derail the event once and for all. After a half hour straight of rain Saturday morning, the ski trails at the Marshall School were not capable of holding a race.
As a last ditch effort to find snow holding up through the day of rain, led CSS Head Coach
Chad Salmela to Snowflake. A phone call to the owner who was alpine skiing in Dear Valley, Utah, allowed the Christmas Classic to happen; at least the first day of it.
“I knew there was a huge high school race with about 400 skiers at Snowflake, so I didn't think there was a chance,” according to Salmela. “But when I got there, they were confined to a 2.5km course I had almost no interest in using. I went out on the 5km and it was incredibly good considering the rain.” The races were moved back an hour, but went off on compressed, saturated snow.
Northern Michigan proved to be as strong as always, packing the top three spots with a perfect score. Jordyn Ross edged teammate, Mary Kate Cirelli by a mere two seconds, in a time of 40:47 to 40:49. Just three seconds further back, Rosie Frankowski rounded out the perfect score for the Wildcats in at time of 40:52.
Saints senior,
Sarah Allen (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Northern Michigan)), proved her summer training has her at the best form of her career, finishing in a tie with Michigan Tech's Lynn Duijndam for sixth overall and fourth in the collegiate field, both posting a time of 42:29. Saints sophomore,
Sharmila Ahmed (Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) finished one place back in eighth, sixth among college skiers, in a time of 43:39.
The Saints edged Michigan Tech for the first time in program history to take second behind NMU as a team, albeit with both teams fielding small teams. The Saints only fielded two skiers with the majority of their skiers away at another big junior meet, while several Michigan Tech skiers turned around mid-journey to Duluth in favor of studying for finals, in what appeared to be a certain cancellation of the event. Tech's third entrant dropped out, giving the Saints a one point advantage for the team score, 10 points to 9, respectively. NMU scored a perfect 24 points. It is the first time in program history that the Saints women beat the Huskies.
“It was great to see both of our ladies ski sound, despite finding the conditions particularly challenging,” said Salmela. “Sarah was right in the mix at half way, but got pretty taxed in the fairly odd, slow conditions. Shar has battled shin issues in conditions like this, so for her to hang in there was a victory in itself. I think they both handled the adversity well, and they showed me they have the fitness for the season ahead, and particularly are ready for U.S. Nationals coming up in a few weeks.”
Competition is scheduled to resume Sunday at 10:00 a.m., weather permitting. With snow depth as challenging as it became Saturday, any event held will likely be another freestyle event.
