RESULTS

ISHPEMING, Mich. (csssaints.com) - Despite a costly fall St. Scholastica senior Sharmila Ahmed (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) led the women's skiing team in its season opener at the Northern Michigan University Wildcat Invitational finishing sixth with a time of 13:28.9 on Saturday. 

The race was dominated by the host Wildcats taking the top five spots, plus seventh, eighth, and a tie for ninth. Jordyn Ross won in a time of 12:50.4, besting teammate Kristen Bourne by 5.1 seconds, in 12:55.5. Megan Edic rounded out the podium and Wildcat perfect score in a time of 13:17.8.

Despite the fall, Ahmed was still only 10.1 seconds from the podium in what was a tightly contested race. Senior Anita Kirvesniemi (Simpele, Finland/Joensuun Yhteiskoulun Lukio (New Mexico)) finished just 5.9 seconds behind Ahmed in at time of 13:34.8, but placed a full five spots behind in 11^th, just 1.1 seconds from a tie in the ninth spot. In her first start for the Saints, freshman Allison Ternes (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) registered a score, finishing 15^th in a time of 13:51.6, to help the Saints edge the Huskies of Michigan Tech by a single point on the day for a team second place.  
   
"Overall, I think based on how our skiers felt, how tight the race was, and Sharmila likely on the podium without a fall, the day was perhaps almost a bit more than I expected, honestly," said a satisfied head coach Chad Salmela.  "We are never our best this time of year by my own design, and we were really kind of in it with NMU and Tech more than I anticipated."  Salmela knew Ahmed can mix it up with anyone in a 5km freestyle--probably her strongest event. But he was even more sure coming off a friendly scrimmage two weeks ago that she nearly won. "Seeing her in it to win it on the physical side, is just normal, but we both saw a few things we can improve on in the coming weeks," said Salmela.   

It was really Kirvesniemi, Ternes, and Liz Peterson (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) that Salmela was enthused about on this day. "Anita showed herself, despite not having a race or time trial start on snow yet and feeling flat today, that she can skate with this field just fine. She was right there in the mix time-wise. That, Allison's debut as a scorer, and Liz's determination to overcome a lot of things these last few years are what's really nice to see going into the long winter. It all bodes well for the meat of the season."

The Saints continue competition Sunday in Ishpeming with at 10km classic pursuit start, in which each athlete starts behind Saturday's winner by the time they finished behind the winner in Saturday's event.