HOUGHTON, Mich. (csssaints.com) -- Joe Dubay (Coon Rapids, Minn./Andover HS) led the St. Scholastica men's skiing team at the U.S. National Championships 30km freestyle mass start in a time of 1:31:15, to finish 53^rd overall and 16^th in the CCSA conference race within a race.

Tad Elliott of Durango, Colo., won overall in a time of 1:20:31.6.  Brian Gregg of Minneapolis was second in 1:20:41.2, and Michael Somppi of Thunder Bay was third in 1:20:44.9.

Adam Martin of Northern Michigan University finished fourth overall, but racked his second straight podium in the U.S. Championships as Somppi is a guest competitor. His time of 1:20:49, also stood as the CCSA standard.  NMU swept the CCSA podium with Jake Brown sixth overall in 1:20:53 to take the second CCSA spot, while Fredrik Schwenke finished 14^th overall and in the third CCSA spot in 1:22:29.

Reitler Hodgert (Bend, Ore./Summit HS ) skied two of the three 10 kilometer laps right around the CCSA top 10, before he "bonked…really hard," according to Hodgert.  Hodgert was among several of the Saints who battled a gastrointestinal bug this week, giving the Saints further challenges in an otherwise challenging week of racing.

As Hodgert faded to the rear of the field, Dubay took the Saints banner first across the line.  Ryan St. Clair (Bend, Ore./Summit HS (Walla Walla)) was a little over a minute behind in 1:32:23, 57^th overall and 18^th in the CCSA, while Jake Richards (Callaway, Minn./Detroit Lakes HS ) rounded out the Saints scoring in 59^th and 20^th in the CCSA in 1:32:26.  The Saints finished the CCSA day in fifth, a position they've not fallen to in a CCSA event for years.

"It was a rough day for the guys by any stretch you want to look at it," according to Saints head coach Chad Salmela. "I think the week has been a challenge with the sickness. It was a short, 24-hour thing, but it still drains you as an athlete with this week of racing." 

Salmela also didn't field a very big team on the day, making the margin for error much smaller. "We have 4 guys on the start today so there's not a lot of room for problems if we want to be competitive.  We had so-so to poor races across the board.  Our performance to the CCSA was a solid 3-5 percent off what we normally do, so it's not just a perception.  I keep stats and statistically, this was a bummer for sure."

Salmela remained upbeat and philosophical despite the disappointing showing.  "You just shrug it off and realize there will be more days to fight.  We know we have good base fitness under everything so we just continue to get healthy, hone race form, and know better days are to come."

The Saints compete Saturday in the final event of these 2016 U.S. National Championships, a 1.5km classic sprint.