COLERAINE, Minn. (csssaints.com) -- Sunday it wasn't mother nature that thwarted the scheduled events. Mt. Itasca's 2km loop had great snow coverage and surface, but a broken groomer stopped short the efforts to set track for a classic race. The end result was a second straight day of freestyle racing, albeit on a different course configuration.
Ellie Evans (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) and
Chelsey Youngberg (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) finished 11
th and 12
th overall and seventh
and eighth
collegiately, just two seconds apart in 36:38.9 and 30:49.9, respectively.
Annie Hart of SMS Team T2 again won, but just barely over Abigail Drach of Loppet Nordic Racing, 34:17.3 to 34:20.6. Northern Michigan's Nicole Schneider was the top college skier and third overall in 34:22.4.
Allison Ternes (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) finished 21
st overall and ninth
collegiately in 38:27.5. No collegiate team scores were taken.
"Overall it went a little better today than yesterday," said Saints head coach
Chad Salmela. "I think the second race effort was going to feel better to everyone and it was really necessary for the skiers to push today to get used to racing after yesterday's shock. It's a good trend to improve on day 2 for sure."
Salmela was happy to see this particularly from Evans and Youngberg. "Ellie has struggled after what I would say quite simply is borderline overtraining. She bumped her training a lot, and we've had to navigate getting her feeling vibrant again. This was a big step for her."
As for Youngberg, Salmela feels she is competing perhaps better than she has as a Saint in her senior year, and a lot of that is finding balance with the sport. "It's great to see Chelsey throw out two solid races in December that are better than most she's had
in three years. We have tried several approaches, and agreed to go back to the basics this year, and the basics works! Especially for her, and I feel she's just getting going for this year. I feel she is racing again where she should be and that's nice to see."
The Saints take a break until the U.S. Nationals get underway in Houghton, Michigan
January 3-9.
