RESULTS

HOUGHTON, Mich. (csssaints.com) - St. Scholastica senior Anita Kirvesniemi (Simpele, Finland/Joensuun Yhteiskoulun Lukio (New Mexico)) knew that her specialty is the 1.5km sprint. While it is not an NCAA event the Saints train for it specifically and she has had only two race starts to date on snow, neither points slowed her down at the Michigan Tech ski trails Saturday in the Junior Olympic Qualifier 1.5km women's classic sprint. 

In a sprint event, each athlete starts by trying to qualify by time, racing the sprint course against the clock. The fastest 30 times in the field advance to 6 quarter finals in which the first two skiers across the line advance as well as the fastest 2 skiers from the quarterfinals who were not in the top two. The same happens in the semifinals, whittling the field down to 6 athletes in the finals to determine the winner and rank order.

Kirvesniemi was not particularly impressed with her own qualifying performance, but when the results came out, she had thrashed a stellar field by 5.6 seconds in at time of 4:32.57. The gap might not have been significant if not for the fact that it included the winner of this very event at last season's U.S. National Championships, Natalia Naryshkina from Russia, racing for the CXC Elite Team, and nationally competitive classic sprinter, Felicia Gesior, of Northern Michigan University who has finished 10^th and 16^th in this event the last two years at U.S. Nationals. 

Joining Kirvesniemi in the quarterfinals were Saints teammates; freshman Allison Ternes (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) (12^th, 4:51.22), senior Sharmila Ahmed (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) (13^th, 4:51.31), Liz Peterson (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) (24^th, 4:58.62) and Ellie Evans (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) (25^th, 4:59.60). 

Kirvesniemi cruised through her quarterfinal, posting the second fastest time of the six heats, despite standing up in the 25 meters and coasting across the finish line due to having a sizable lead. No other Saints advanced out of the quarterfinals ending the day of competition for all Saints, but Kirvesniemi. Not being a college meet, no team score was kept.

In the semifinals, Kirvesniemi relinquished the lead to Gesior in the final meters after the two were comfortably in advancing positions, with Gesior posting the fastest time on the course to that point in the day, while Kirvesniemi also eclipsed her qualifying time. Meanwhile, Naryshkina advanced narrowly in her own semifinal heat, doing just enough to cross first despite heat from behind.

In the final, Kirvesniemi started fast to avoid contact and potential mishap, but relaxed into the first downhill. "We discussed after the semi that perhaps she should save a little energy in the start," according to Saints head coach Chad Salmela. "I noticed in the semis that the finishing stretch looked a little more labored than the quarters, and Naryshkina was sandbagging in every heat, and very likely the qualifier as well. We talked about saving up energy to be able to stride up the hills. I thought she was probably the strongest strider in the field so I wanted that to be her difference to the field and potentially the way to beat Naryshkina."

Into the final hill, Naryshkina had a gap on Kirvesniemi that looked insurmountable with a similar gap from Kirvesniemi to Gesior. Kirvesniemi noticed Naryshkina slowing in the final climb and nearly caught the Russian by the finish line, but the veteran outlasted Kirvesniemi by .68 seconds for the win in 4:29.27 to 4:29.95, the two fastest times on the day. Gesior finished just under a second later in 4:30.92, the threesome finishing over 10 seconds ahead of fourth.

"That was really hard," said Kirvesniemi of her effort. "I wish we had a classic sprint at NCAAs!"

Salmela was pleasantly surprised with the result and that of the team. "We had five in the quarters and one just missing the quarters, and that felt awesome," said Salmela. "I knew Anita could classic sprint, but she's not really had the chance to do it yet in a Saints uniform." 

Salmela knew that despite the relatively small regional meet that with Naryshkina and Gesior in the field, that it was a particularly great chance to polish up against a stellar field. "When I saw the qualifier I thought she looked the best of anyone I saw, but I didn't expect her to be nearly six seconds ahead of everyone. I was worried she might tire out in the heats, but the final was her fastest race of the day, and that shows good fitness.  I'm really excited about what I saw today."

The Saints take to the start line again Sunday for a 10km classic mass start.