Complete Results

BIWABIK, Minn. (csssaints.com) -- For a second week in a row, the St. Scholastica men's ski team rolled in a manner that is unprecedented, led once again by a second place finish by senior Jeremy Hecker (Andover, Minn./Andover HS (Minnesota-Twin Cities)), but backed up by an incredible show of depth, posting five of the top 10 times on the day. 

Despite the absence of powerhouse, Alaska Fairbanks, the performance of the men's program on day one of its home meet held at Giants Ridge near Biwabik, was unlike anything the program has done in the past.

Hecker started slow, trailing in the first few kilometers by over 15 seconds in fourth, but true to his style, charged the second of two 5 kilometer laps, hitting the 7.5km mark in the lead by six seconds, towing with him teammate John Wessling (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS) who started 30 seconds earlier, sitting in fifth respectively at that point.  Hecker's lead held for only 14 seconds as Northern Michigan's defending NCAA Champion, Erik Soederman, who started 30 seconds later than Hecker, charged through the same mark 16 seconds in the lead.

Soederman would only pull another three seconds out of Hecker in the final 2.5 kilometers, while Wessling would lose his ride on Hecker, but capitalize on striding with Soederman in the final kilometers to the finish to move up one spot on the final results in fourth.  Soederman won in a time of 33:15.3 to Hecker's 33:35.2.  Soederman's teammate, Chris Bowler, clocked the third fastest time in 33:54.5, with Wessling in 34:17.8.

Junior Scott Johanik (Washburn, Wis./Washburn HS ) had a battle on his hands as well, crossing the line in seventh in a time of 35:10.2, just 1.4 seconds ahead of eighth, to round out the scoring for the Saints.  But the notable performances didn't stop there.  Junior Nick Power (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) put up by far his career best performance in ninth with at time of 35:12.8, just 2.6 seconds behind Johanik, while teammate Chris Parr (Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) put five Saints in the top 10 in 10th, with a time of 35:19.8 another seven seconds back of Power.

The Saints finished second, three points behind the Wildcats of NMU, 65 to 62 respectively.  Michigan Tech finished third with 53 points.

“We have been talking as a team about doing well here at our home meet, and we've focused on improving our classic skiing performance,” said Saints head coach Chad Salmela.  “I think we did both of those things in spades today.”

Classic races have been an Achilles heel for the Saints in past seasons so the recent rash of great classic results are a new trend for the team.

“We have struggled in classic in the past, especially last year with no classic tracks in Duluth all season.  But I felt excuses just don't cut it.  We just decided to drive to get to classic tracks with the bad snow year again, and it just happens Giants Ridge was the place with the best tracks, the best terrain, and we were going to be racing our home meet here.  We had our camp here over break.  We basically made this place home for our home meet.  I think you put two and two together, and you understand how a day like this is possible.”

The Saints men have never beaten Northern Michigan as a team.  Salmela was very happy with how close they came today.  “I don't think it's a secret that you aim for the best team.  Fairbanks is super good this year—maybe the best—but the fact remains, we've never beaten NMU.  That sticks in the back of your mind when you're a competitive team, so we make no bones about that being a benchmark we have yet to achieve as program.  And they are a great, great team and will never give it up easily.  They have had tough snow conditions much like us last year, and I think that has given us a small opening to come this close today.  They are missing one of their best skiers, as are we, so it was a really great test for us and despite falling short by three points, I am very happy with what we did.  When you race well, you just have to sit back, enjoy it for a second, then drive on and try to do it again or do it even better.”

The Saints close out their home meet Sunday with a 20km mass start freestyle event.