MINNEAPOLIS (csssaints.com) - Reitler Hodgert (Bend, Ore./Summit HS ) has come to like Wirth Park for long distance classic events as he snagged a fifth place CCSA finish in the 15km classic three weeks ago at an earlier CCSA event. On the same course Friday, the field added Alaska and the course added five kilometers, and Hodgert nearly managed another top five, crossing the finish line sixth in a time of 46:46.4 to lead the St. Scholastica men's team's effort to a third place finish on the day.
 

Northern Michigan once again scored perfectly, sweeping the podium, as Fredrik Schwenke won in 45:03.3, Adam Martin finished second in 45:08.5, and Erik Soderman was third in 45:43.1.  
 

Paul Schommer (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly HS) finished 12th in 48:00.1, while Nick Power (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) decided to double pole the course on skate skis with no grip wax, and came in for an impressive 15th place finish in 48:13.5, to round out the Saints scoring. The Saints finished third behind NMU and Alaska on the day and lead the CCSA Championships after three of four competitions by five points over Michigan Tech.
 

Hodgert led early, but slid behind the NMU trio and Alaska's Jonas Loeffler. The NMU trio broke away with Loeffler in tow three laps into the six lap race. Hodgert hovered just off the pace all by himself for a lap before the train at the front moved out in earnest and Hodgert got company from St. Olaf's Jake Brown. Then Brown dropped Hodgert and the lone Saint was challenged from behind for sixth.  
 

In the end, the NMU group put a gap on Loeffler, Brown skied alone to fifth, and Hodgert outlasted the group of chasers in the final two steep climbs to hang on to sixth.
 

"I was just skiing under control (the first lap) and everyone was just behind me," said Hodgert of his early heroics. "I bonked. It was hard." Hodgert said he "learned a lot today," about pacing a 20km.
 

"Reitler was really on today, you could tell," said Saints head coach Chad Salmela. "So on that it was a little much at the start. I think without realizing it, he used up a bit of energy in the first 6km that would have come in handy about the time Jake Brown made a surge. But that's how you learn--from experience, and Reitler had a great one today."
 

An oddity to the day was Nick Power (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School)'s double pole performance score for the Saints. Power, a notoriously strong double poler, decided to avoid any of the slower grip wax and double pole the entire 20km course. It seemed to work. "We discussed it, and went for it," said Salmela. "It might seem weird, but another skier finished fourth three weeks ago doing it. I felt Nick would be a ways back starting, but as people got exhausted, he'd move up. The course was right, it was fast with no really long uphills. It was a good move and it worked."
 

With Northern Michigan and Alaska choosing not to contend in the CCSA Championship relay and sprint, the Saints face a final day of competition Sunday at Wirth, the 10km freestyle, with a chance at their first ever CCSA Championship win. The only team that stands between them and that honor is Michigan Tech, five points in arrears.
 

"It's a great opportunity for us," says Salmela. "We can't do much about what other teams decide to do or not to do. We had a strong weekend last weekend. We know that Tech wants it equally as bad as we do and we just have to go out and do our best and let the chips fall where they do."