Complete Relay Results
FInal CSSA Team Scores
HOUGHTON, Mich. -- With by a spectacular charge through the field, the St. Scholastica women skiers bounced back from a sixth place finish in Saturday's 15km mass start classic to score a fourth place finish in the 3x5km freestyle relay, the final of three Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) Championships team events.
The team finished the relay in sixth in a time of 46:33.8, but scored as fourth for the CCSA Championship race, as Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech each placed a second, non-scoring team, ahead of the Saints.
Northern Michigan's A team soundly took the relay victory in a time of 44:42.4. Michigan Tech rounded out the podium with their A team finishing second in 45:30.0, and their B team finishing third in 45:41.9.
The Saints got out to an early lead as
Brooke Adams (Spooner, Wis./Spooner HS ) blasted out of the start, but as the first leg drew on, the challenging 5km course along with Saturday's difficult conditions taking their toll, Adams began struggling on the day, coming across the line after the first leg in 13th place. From that point on, the Saints began a march towards the front of the field and lost only a handful of seconds to the leaders over the final two legs to the finish.
Freshman
Sharmila Ahmed (Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) catapulted the Saints from 13th to sixth, with the fastest second leg in the field. Ahmed actually gained a few seconds on the leaders by the final exchange. From there, senior
Eleanor Magnuson (Champlin Park, Minn./Champlin Park HS) continued the forward momentum, making up 34.6 seconds on Alaska Fairbanks B team, and posting the second fastest final leg, losing time only to the CCSA's top skier, Monica Markvardsen of the winning NMU A team.
Northern Michigan's relay victory sealed the overall conference championship victory which included the CCSA Championship individual sprint from the Hilltop Invitational in January, Saturday's 15km classic, and the relay. With a stellar championship weekend, Michigan Tech stunned Alaska Fairbanks, taking second overall in the championship, relegating the Nanooks to third. With the relay performance, the Saints secured fourth place in the CCSA Championship standings, tying the program best CCSA Championship finish from the 2010 season.
The Saints' relay performance was not unexpected by Saints head coach
Chad Salmela.
“I had a hunch that after Saturday's tough race that several of our skiers would shake out the last two weeks of no racing and really rock this race. I think the results yesterday didn't portray Sharmila's fitness, and often for many athletes, you need a 'primer' race to uncork one. I think that was the case definitely for Eleanor, as well as
Liz Peterson (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) and
Christina Groulx (Thunder Bay, Ontario/St. Ignatius HS (Lakehead University)) on our B team.
Sarah Allen (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Northern Michigan)) just continues to roll along with good race after good race. It's a sport, and everyone has good days and bad days, but by and large, we had a really good day today.”
Salmela also liked the relay format contested for the conference championship, something that has been absent roughly two decades from the central collegiate racing scene.
“The relay is so fun, and nothing brings a team together and creates rivalries like a relay. You have a situation like today, in which Brooke just didn't quite have her best day, then Sharmila and Eleanor just picked up the situation and made something of it. Several teams in the field had similar stories. For us, it was a truly team effort. Both our A and B teams had great performances today, and I think the team just had a great day overall. It was very gratifying because the group effort becomes the focus, and we really raced like a team today. I was very proud of their performance, and I just love the relay for giving us that opportunity.”
The regular season comes to an end next Friday and Saturday at the NCAA Central Regional Championships in Negaunee, Michigan.
