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Team Points

ISHPEMING, Mich. (csssaints.com) -- Wherever the action is hottest, Jeremy Hecker (Andover, Minn./Andover HS (Minnesota-Twin Cities)) seems to be there in the 2013 Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) racing season.  After two tight finishes in a row—a photo finish in the 20km mass start freestyle at Giants Ridge and the sprint final Saturday at Al Quaal in Negaunee, Mich.; both of which garnered him second-place individual finishes—the senior found himself in yet another nail-biter for second place Sunday in the CCSA Championship Men's 3x10km classic relay.  Only this time, it was for the team.

In the scramble leg, Northern Michigan's Kyle Bratrud, fresh off the plane from his stint representing the United States at the Junior World Ski Championships in the Czech Republic, put his new-found international experience to work and distanced himself from the rest of the field in short order.  Saints junior Scott Johanik (Washburn, Wis./Washburn HS ) skied in a six-man pack for second most of the race, but on the final climb started to distance himself from the rest of the field, save Bratrud way out front.  At the first exchange, Johanik trailed by 41 seconds, but held second over Michigan Tech by an advantage of 13 seconds.

CSS junior John Wessling (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS), who sat out the previous day's sprints to be ready for his relay leg, double poled strong out of the start and gained more time on the Huskies, but struggled to find snap on the steep uphills.  “John had a lot going on personally this week with a lot of time sitting in the car,” said Saints head coach Chad Salmela.  “I wasn't sure if he was going to be ready for a hard fast 10km, but he fought it out right from the start and did all we needed him to do.”

Wessling held up to 25 seconds advantage on the Huskies, while keeping Northern Michigan at almost the same gap as at the exchange, for six kilometers.  But as the final climbs hit, Wessling slowed, losing nearly all the advantage he'd built on Michigan Tech over the previous 7.5 kilometers, and another 25 seconds to Northern Michigan's George Cartwright, by the second exchange.  Jeremy Hecker (Andover, Minn./Andover HS (Minnesota-Twin Cities)) still had a nice 17-second cushion on Michigan Tech's, Luke Gesior, while Northern Michigan's Erik Soederman was out of reach, nearly a minute ahead, on the final exchange.

Then Gesior proceeded to have the race of the day and make it interesting.  By two kilometers, the advantage had dropped to 13 seconds—the same Johanik gave to Wessling.  Another kilometer later, it was 10 seconds.  At the half way point, it had evaporated.  Gesior caught Hecker.

“I saw Luke come up the first hill at about 2.5km and he was just snorting and really breathing hard,” recounted Saints head coach Chad Salmela.  “While he'd made a few seconds on Jeremy, I thought there was no way he could keep that kind of effort up for 10 whole kilometers, and Jeremy would just ski away from him on the second lap.  Well, I've been around a while and seen a lot, and I can still be wrong, obviously.”

With Soederman now more than a minute up on the field at that point, the focus became what is now becoming a commonplace theme to CCSA weekends; the race between St. Scholastica and Michigan Tech.

Gesior sat on Hecker as they hit the 7.5km mark, a very steep, long uphill.  “I could see Jeremy was composed, but it was not a situation over which I thought he had complete control,” said Salmela.  “Jeremy is very confident, and I didn't need to over coach him.  I just very calmly reminded him on that climb, that Luke had a good sprint finish.”

Salmela kept waiting for Gesior to come unhitched, but it wasn't happening.  He matched Hecker stride for stride.  “I knew when Luke was on in a classic race—which he clearly was—he was as good as anyone in the CCSA.  At that point he'd out-skied Jeremy to the tune of 17 seconds, and Jeremy is the guy who has been second in four straight CCSA races.  Gesior was having what we call 'a day.'  On the next big climb, I suggested to Jeremy that he consider where on the course a move could be made, and that move had to be decisive.  I wanted him to realize he had basically one chance to get across the line ahead of Luke.  It was a one-card game.  The rest of the poker match, I left up to him entirely.  I didn't like the odds of a sprint-out, but if he went earlier, he was probably going to have to gap him to hold it.  Neither were particularly attractive options to me at the time, seeing what I was seeing coming out of Luke.”

The duo stayed locked stride for stride to the final climb, 400 meters from the finish, when Gesior double-poled with a fury up the final climb and tried to move past Hecker.  Hecker didn't budge, emerged from the woods half a stride ahead of Gesior, both skiers double poling madly into the last downhill before the final turn into the finishing straight.  Hecker gained about 10 feet on Gesior on the downhill, chose his finish lane, stepped out of the prepared tracks, and gutted out a double pole finish that held Gesior at bay by two-tenths of a second at the line.

“I was watching the finish head-on, and I could see him (Hecker) out of the tracks double poling like mad with Luke almost half superimposed behind him still in the tracks, and I just thought, 'brilliant!'”

The blowing new snow in the wide open stadium had dusted in the prepared grooves the skiers ski in to keep the skis going straight during the classic technique.  Blown new snow is generally much slower than skied-in or machine-prepared snow.  Hecker had instinctively gotten out of the tracks on the final downhill, where he opened a slight gap on Gesior, then elected to stay out of the track on the finishing stretch.

“That's just smarts.  Period,” glowed Salmela.  “I can't say that was the difference, but it sure didn't hurt.”

The move gave the Saints a nine-point advantage on the day over the Huskies, to add to the single point advantage they accrued over Tech in the individual sprint.

“We have been having these epic finishes, and Jeremy just keeps making great racing decisions,” praised Salmela.  “You can talk theoretically about it in the van or at the hotel, but when you're out there busting yourself up at absolute max effort, to have that kind of composure, analysis, and thought process, to make those decisions; to find a way to beat someone clearly out-gunning you physically on the day?  It's just something you really can't teach, and it's just plain fun to watch.  Especially when it's your own skier.  That's mature, smart ski racing, and it's what makes Jeremy, Jeremy.  It's just the kind of stuff that makes you so proud as a coach of your athletes, especially when you know team heartbreak is just two tenths of a second the other direction.”

After two of four conference championship races, Northern Michigan leads with 151 points, CSS is in second with 134, and Michigan Tech sits in third with 124 points, respectively.

The Saints have a week off before the second half of the CCSA Conference Championships conclude with a 10km classic and a 20km freestyle mass start, February 16 and 17 at Mt. Itasca in Coleraine, Minn.