RESULTS

ISHPEMING, Mich. (csssaints.com) - St. Scholastica skiing standout Paul Schommer (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly HS), posted his fifth straight NCAA All Central Region performance, finishing sixth in the men's 10km freestyle Saturday at Al Quaal Park and furthered his chances at being selected for his third NCAA Skiing Championship berth. His performance helped lead the Saints to third place on the day behind Northern Michigan and Alaska, respectively.

Schommer started fast, tied three ways for second at three kilometers, just seconds behind leader, Logan Hanneman. The next five kilometers, however, would see a huge shuffle as 2012 NCAA Champion in this same event, Erik Soderman, used his trademark late surge to win by a whopping 33 seconds over Hanneman, in a time of 23:24.0 to Hanneman's 23:57.3. Michigan Tech's Haakon Hjelstuen, who sat only eighth at three kilometers, started 30 seconds ahead of Soderman, jumped in behind Soderman and was paced right to the podium to finish third in at time of 24:01.0.

Schommer faded a bit, but remained in competitive proximity, posting the sixth fastest time of 24:18.4, just three-tenths from Northern Michigan's Fredrik Schwenke in 5th in 24:18.0. Calvin Mehrhof (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids HS ) posted arguably his best race of the year and certainly the best career race at regionals in 12th, with a time of 25:18.6. Reitler Hodgert (Bend, Ore./Summit HS ) finished one place back in 13th in 25:20.8, keeping his NCAA bid alive. NMU posted 62 points to win the day, Alaska was second with 56, and the Saints narrowly grabbed third over Michigan Tech, 48 to 47, respectively.

"I was pretty tired," said Schommer of his efforts. "My legs felt heavy (but I) just kept pushing, knowing it was going to hurt."

"I couldn't really tell Paul felt like it wasn't going great, because I thought he looked great," said Saints head coach Chad Salmela. "Sometimes down the stretch, late in the season, when athletes are hanging on to their fitness, they might not feel awesome, but they can still perform well. I think that's what Paul's experience was. It was arguably one of his best if not the best performance this year compared to the field."

Salmela was really impressed with both Mehrhof and Hodgert as well. "Calvin skied about as well today as I've ever seen him," praised Salmela. "This is the toughest men's field I've ever seen at an NCAA Central Regional. I told Calvin, 9 years out of 10, he'd have been all region today with that race."

Hodgert appears to keep his NCAA hopes alive with his performance. Hodgert was caught early from behind by eventual fifth place skier, Schwenke, and Salmela was worried Hodgert might react negatively to it. "Reitler's NCAA bid really comes down to proximity to about three other skiers, and his proximity today was good. Could've been better, but it certainly kept him in it. I was concerned when Schwenke went by that Reitler might get discouraged, but it's never over in these NCAA qualifying scenarios. In the end, today's race probably keeps him well in contention. For him it just comes down to classic tomorrow, and I like those odds. He's been spectacular at the mass start long distance classic races this season."

The NCAA Central Regional Championships conclude Sunday with the women's 15km classic mass start. 2015 NCAA Skiing Championship nominations will be made official Monday, March 2.