RESULTS

HOUGHTON, Mich. (csssaints.com) - Junior Calvin Mehrhof (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids HS ) led the St. Scholastica men's skiing team's efforts Sunday for the first time in his college career, edging teammates Jake Richards (Callaway, Minn./Detroit Lakes HS ) and Paul Schommer (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly HS) in the men's 20km classic mass start at the Michigan Tech Junior Olympic Qualifier.  

Mehrhof finished 14^th on the day in 1:02:20.6, just ahead in 15^th Richards in 1:02:26.8 and Schommer in 16^thin 1:02:27.0

In what was another Northern Michigan early season tour de force, the Wildcats swept the podium with Fredrick Schwenke taking a three-way sprint for the win in 59:25.1, Adam Martin three-tenths back in 59:25.4, and Kyle Bratrud third in 59:26.2

Mehrhof has been having his best start to a season by a stretch coming off a series of top finishes for the Saints, and securing a spot on the four-man U.S. Nationals roster with today's performance. "Calvin just keeps skiing to a new level for himself and today was not exception," said Saints head coach Chad Salmela. "He had a rough year last year and I think he had to kind of re-evaluate some things for himself, and whatever it was, it has worked. Mostly he just seems happy and when Calvin is happy, he seems to do just fine. He knew we had to pick our U.S. Nationals Team and he was on the bubble, and he came through today big time." 

Jake Richards (Callaway, Minn./Detroit Lakes HS ) also found himself in a solid second spot on the team just seconds behind Mehrhof, showing continued improvement. "Jake is a strong skier for us but he needs race starts and some hard efforts to get going. He's trending in the right direction," said Salmela.

The race was Schommer's first back in a Saints suit coming off a 2014 season that made him the first NCAA All-American in Saints skiing history. The fifth year senior took the fall semester off with a single semester left to graduate. Coming off four races in five days at the U.S. Biathlon IBU Cup trials which ended Wednesday, Schommer felt a little off his game and lost some time with a fall. "I just caught an edge halfway down a big hill. I don't know what happened. I just couldn't get back in contact (with the leaders). I felt tired." 

Salmela didn't seem very concerned for the senior. "Everyone has bad days and Paul knows this too. It was a lot to come do a classic race off of a lot of skating (in biathlon) off of so many races this week. But he's more emotionally stable; more mature in reacting from race to race than a few years ago. I think there are a lot of reasons we've both identified for the relatively rough race today for him, and we will move on to the next one," asserted Salmela.

The Saints have a break over the holiday and head back to Houghton for the US National Championships, January 4^th, 5^th, and 8^th.