RESULTS | FINAL TEAM SCORES

ISHPEMING, Mich. (csssaints.com) - St. Scholastica's Anita Kirvesniemi (Simpele, Finland/Joensuun Yhteiskoulun Lukio (New Mexico)) had to use all the tactical savvy she could muster to grab her second NCAA All-Central Region accolade in as many days, finishing eighth in the 15km mass start classic in a time of 46:09.5 on Sunday.

Ulrika Axelsson of Michigan Tech led a Huskies 1, 2 finish in a winning time of 45:12.9, just eight-tenths of a second ahead of teammate, Deedra Irwin. Northern Michigan's Felicia Gesior finished third in 45:26.4.

Sharmila Ahmed (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) battled back from early mishap to finish 16th in 48:28.3, while Ellie Evans (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) rounded out the Saints scoring in 20th in a time of 49:11.1 

Northern Michigan won the team title with 123 points, while Michigan Tech and Alaska posted stellar days to leap frog the Saints with 115 and 103 points, respectively, to the Saints' 99. 
 
The pace went out blistering as Axelsson, Irwin, and Gesior, gapped the field by 10 seconds in just three kilometers. Kirvesniemi hung on in 12th early at the back of a 9-skier chase pack, but the pace, and a tangle and fall for Sharmila Ahmed (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS), spit her off the back early making it nearly impossible to regain the chase group at the paces set ahead of her.

Kirvesniemi remained patient at the back of the 9-skier group and moved up as skiers tired from the pace. At the penultimate climb, she sat eighth, but just eight seconds from fourth with two kilometers to the finish. "I just felt flat," said Kirvesniemi of her race. "I felt snappy on [pace pickups] and could go, but then I would just lose my power [and have to back off]." 

As the mad scramble spread everyone out, Kirvesniemi could make no more ground and crossed the line eighth.

"I think Anita is one of the smartest, most in-tune-with-herself racers I've ever coached," said Salmela. "She pulled out an all-region performance on strategy, conserving energy, then out right guts, when it clearly wasn't going all that well physically. It's really fun to watch her make decisions on how and when to use what she's got left in the tank. She easily could've have skied a minute slower if she'd lost the group, but she just didn't let it happen and that kept her in the race. She's the full, competitive package, that's for sure."

After a CCSA team victory and a second place finish Saturday on the heels of second place finishes at both the conference and regional championships in 2014, the slip on the final day to fourth was a tough one on the Saints. "It's hard. There's no two ways about it," lamented Salmela. "The hardest thing about it for me was, after the season we've had—all the way up toSaturday's stellar performance—to see our ladies watching the team podium ceremony with them not on it. It's amazing, but we've almost come to expect it as a group. They were bummed, and that's ultimately a hard way to end what has been our best season against the strongest CCSA I've ever seen." 

But Salmela was also philosophical about the end of the season for the Saints women. "Last year we were second at regionals and sent no women to NCAAs.  This year we were fourth, but will likely send two. We have the Butch Reimer CCSA trophy in our cabinet for a year. One slightly off day doesn't define a season.  This is an awesome, awesome team I'm very proud to coach." 

Kirvesniemi and Ahmed appear to be likely NCAA Central Region nominees. The 2015 NCAA Skiing Championship qualifiers for the central region will be official at noon on Monday.