RESULTS

ISHPEMING, Mich. (csssaints.com) - Saturday's NCAA Central Regional Championship women's 5km freestyle was an opportunity for Sharmila Ahmed (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) and Anita Kirvesniemi (Simpele, Finland/Joensuun Yhteiskoulun Lukio (New Mexico)) to virtually lock up a spot to the 2015 NCAA Skiing Championships. It was an opportunity for the Saints woman's team to put an exclamation point on their recent CCSA Championship team title with a full CCSA field in attendance.

At the end of the day, Ahmed and Kirvesniemi would all but lock up their NCAA bids with third and fifth place finishes, marking the first time the Saints program placed two athletes inside the top five at the NCAA Regionals. With Liz Peterson (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) throwing down arguably her own best performance of the year in 14th, the Saints ended the day in second.

Michigan Tech's skating ace, Alice Flanders, took control of the race early and didn't let go, clocking the fastest time in 15:09.0, on a cold, slow morning on the tracks. At just past the halfway mark, Flanders had a full eight second lead, that would drop to just 3.4 over the final two kilometers, as Northern Michigan's Jordyn Ross, cut that lead in half to finish second in 15:12.5. Ahmed trailed Flanders by a full 15 seconds past the halfway mark and sat in fourth, but took five seconds back from Flanders the eventual in the second half of the course to finish third in 15:18.8.   

Ahmed and Kirvesniemi both entered the weekend with strong performances putting them in the running for NCAA Championship berths, but the point totals at regionals are usually the best of the season, and to ensure the berth, regionals usually need to go well. Ahmed chalks up her second podium in as many qualifier races, further strengthening her bid going into the final qualifier.   

Kirvesniemi has had a spectacular season for the Saints, particularly with two classic CCSA wins. It has been the freestyle races that have historically thwarted her. Coming off two sixth place finishes in freestyle, Kirvesniemi really just needed a solid final freestyle race this final weekend that are traditionally critical in the qualifying process. Her fifth place in a time of 15:43.3, marks her best collegiate performance in the technique, and all but locks up her qualifying bid. 

Peterson picked her final day in a Saints uniform on skate skies,  to post one of her best races to date, finishing 14th in 16:18.0, earning important points to lift the Saints over a very strong Michigan Tech by three points. Northern Michigan won with 63 points to CSS's 56, with Tech in third with 53.

"It was the best single day in our program at regionals ever," said Saints head coach Chad Salmela. "We've never put two in the top five at regionals, and that's just awesome. The whole team skied great and while we were second last year as well, we've never been closer to winning than today."

Salmela said he feels a relief after today's results as well. "This goes such a long way to take the pressure off both Shar and Anita tomorrow because they will probably qualify even if they didn't race tomorrow. They obviously will race and race the best they can, but it's nice to not have to feel a lot rides on the race. They can just go out there and let it happen."

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.