MINNEAPOLIS (csssaints.com) -- St. Scholastica's
Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash./Liberty Bell HS) continued her bid for a NCAA Skiing Championships bid with an 11th place finish in 15:36.9, in the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) Championships 5km freestyle at Wirth Park Sunday.
Ann Tine Markset of Alaska-Fairbanks notched her first career CCSA win in a time of, 14:55.7. Northern Michigan's Felicia Gesior (15:00.3) and Sarah Bezdicek (15:03.2) finished second and third, respectively.
Ellie Evans (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) continued a strong weekend placing 14th in 15:47.9, while
Chelsey Youngberg (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) rounded out the Saints scoring in 18th place, in 16:16.9. The Saints finished the day fourth behind NMU, UAF, and Michigan Tech.
Dickinson's placing wasn't remarkable for the season, but her proximity to the field was sound for NCAA qualification purposes, according to Saints head coach
Chad Salmela.
"At this point in the year, you just have to continue to be consistent and close, especially if you're sitting in good races already like Kelsey is," said Salmela. "One more weekend to sew it up. Just have to recover from this week's efforts and not overdo or overthink things going into next weekend. She's at a good level so we don't need to get in the way of ourselves."
Evans also hit good form this weekend with two top 15's. "She was really aggressive this weekend," said Saints assistant coach
Josh Tesch. "She was skiing the uphill every bit as well as anyone. It was really good to see."
The Saints close out the season next weekend in Ishpeming, Michigan at the NCAA Central Region Championships hosted by Northern Michigan University. The NCAA qualifiers will be announced the following Monday.