Complete Results

MINNEAPOLIS (csssaints.com) -- St. Scholastica sophomore Sharmila Ahmed (Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) led an historic charge for the Saints women skiers Sunday in the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) 15km Mass Start Classic as part of the USSA SuperTour at Wirth Park. 

Ahmed yo-yo'd back-and-forth with a pack of CCSA skiers the entire race, ending the day eight-tenths of a second out of the top 10 in 10th, 20th in the overall SuperTour.

Alaska Fairbanks' Raphaela Sieber stuck just off the lead SuperTour pack to pull out a huge CCSA win in 47:21.7, finishing seventh in the overall SuperTour.  Over a minute later, teammate Alyson McPhetres crossed the line second in 48:25.4, (9th overall) while 11.6 seconds later, Rebecca Konieczny swept the podium for the Nanooks in 48:37.0 (10th overall).

While Ahmed slipped four places from her Saturday score, Michigan Tech also slipped a bit, and CSS freshman Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash., Liberty Bell HS) skied strong again to a 17th place finish in 51:17.4, just ahead of Sarah Allen (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Northern Michigan)) in 18th with a time of 51:24.3, to round out the scoring.  The end result was a two-point advantage over Michigan Tech to take third behind Alaska Fairbanks and Northern Michigan, something the Saints women have never done with a full conference field.

The women's total score for the weekend put them third by one point over Michigan Tech; 104 to 103; another first for the Saints.  UAF women walked away with the win with 155 points to Northern Michigan's 133 points.

"To beat Tech for third for the first time in program history, honestly, just feels really good," glowed Saints head coach Chad Salmela.  "We don't wish anyone any ill will, partcularly the Tech team.  We get a long great with the women there and coach Joe Haggenmiller and I have a great comarraderie for each other's programs, but we do have a nice little rivalry with them.  As teams develop, those things happen.  You need someone to shoot for, and for our women, we've been chasing Tech for a long time now, so to not only get ahead of them by a point today, but to tie them for third for the weekend?  Well, what can I say?  It's a marker in the program's history, and I'm proud of these ladies."

Combined with the men's team, the Saints came out solidly in third for the weekend's racing as a combined program with 223 points.  Fairbanks won with 301, Northern Michigan finished second with 276, and Michigan Tech finished fourth with 213.

"This was just a great effort for our entire program this weekend," said Salmela.  "We've worked hard now for seven seasons to make this program a legitimate contender in the CCSA, and when you have a weekend in which that sentiment is true, it is very satisfying."

CCSA NCAA Qualifier
Women's 15km Classic Mass Start
Wirth Park, Minneapolis

1.  Raphaela Sieber   UAF   47:21.7
2.  Alyson McPhetres   UAF   48:25.4
3.  Rebecca Konieczny   UAF   48:37.0
4.  Jordyn Ross  NMU   48:41.3
5.  Theresia Schnurr   UAF   48:41.8
6.  Kailey Mucha   UWGB   49:18.9
7. Mary Kate Cirelli  NMU   49:21.6
8. Hannah Boyer,  NMU   49:22.6
9.  Heather Edic   UAF   49:27.2
10.  Sharmila Ahmed (Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS)  CSS   49:39.8
11.  Rosie Frankowski   NMU   49:40.6
17.  Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash., Liberty Bell HS)   CSS   51:17.4
18.  Sarah Allen (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Northern Michigan))   CSS   51:24.3
25.  Brooke Adams (Spooner, Wis./Spooner HS )   CSS  53:03.6
32.  Liz Peterson (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS)  CSS  56:03.6