CABLE, Wis. (csssaints.com) -- It was a matter of seconds and split seconds that decided Saturday's women's 5km Classic at the Telemark Chase and
Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash./Liberty Bell HS) found herself in the middle of tight competition to claim sixth, leading the St. Scholastica women's ski team to a third place finish in Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) competition with all teams present.
Northern Michigan and Alaska volleyed athletes at the front of the field in front of Dickinson, with NMU placing 1st, 3rd, and 5th, while UAF went 2nd, 4th, and 6th. NMU's Felicia Gesior, who will represent the U.S. at the Under-23 World Nordic Skiing Championships in Romania in February, won in 16:05.0, just 2.9 seconds ahead of Alaska's Anne-Tine Markset, in 16:07.9. NMU's Sophie Schimpl took the final podium spot in 16:32.1.
Dickinson sat in a dead heat for fifth with Alaska's Ann-Cathrin Uhl at the halfway mark, halfway up the course's defining climb, just three seconds down to Markset in fourth at the time. Markset would lead a bold second-half marc up the results by the Nanooks to claim second by the finish, and teammate Nichole Bathe charged from 10th to fourth in the latter half of the race. Dickinson and Uhl stayed knotted to the end with Dickinson edging Uhl by two-tenths of a second for sixth in 16:46.4. Places six through nine were separated by a mere 1.3 seconds.
Allison Ternes (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) posted the 12th fastest CCSA time in 17:08.6, and
Ellie Evans (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) was 14th in the CCSA in 17:31.0, to secure third for the Saints behind the Wildcats and Nanooks.
"I didn't feel really strong...I just tried to ski smooth," said Dickinson of her race. "I felt like my skis were maybe a little slow on the downhill."
"We had mostly good performances today," said Saints head coach
Chad Salmela. "I feel good when we're third or better as a team. I feel like while nobody felt they totally run the bell, the performances were competitive to our competition. We're trending the right direction right when I want us to."
The Saints race in 10km freestyle mass start Sunday in Cable.
