JACKSON, N.H. (csssaints.com) – St. Scholastica senior Reitler Hodgert (Bend, Ore./Summit HS ) had his best NCAA Skiing Championships performance to date with a 19^th place finish in the 10km classic race on Thursday at the Jackson Ski Touring Center.
 
Hodgert's Classic Race
Hodgert was the seventh skier to take off in today's 10km classic interval start. The five kilometer loop meant the skiers had to go around twice. After the first lap, Hodgert had the 11^th fastest time on the course of 13:23. His pace slowed down slightly on the second lap, but he still would place in the top 20, coming home 19^th in a time of 27:33.1, his fastest 10km classic time of the season.
 
The 19^th place finish gave St. Scholastica 12 points for the championships. It was the second-highest finish by a CSS male skier (third-best overall) in a NCAA Championships classic race. Paul Schommer holds the highest finish of 18^th at the 2012 NCAA Championships and that was a 20km classic race.
 
Hodgert was the third fastest skier of the six skiers competing from the Central Region and was the third-highest NCAA Division III finisher. He was 23 seconds off the final All-American spot.
 
"Reitler went out hard just like we told him to and had one of the top times out of all the skiers in the field through five kilometers," said St. Scholastica head coach Maria Stuber.
 
Martin Bergstroem of the University of Utah won the race in a time of 25:33.1.
 
Dickinson's Classic Race
In rapidly changing weather conditions, Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash./Liberty Bell HS) opened the day in the women's 5km classic race. It would only be one loop around the 5km course. Dickinson was the 23^rd skier out of the gate in the interval start. She finished in a time of 17:23.3, which put her 38^th out of the 40 skiers competing.
 
"We were training this week in spring skiing weather and then things changed quickly to the middle of winter weather conditions this morning," said Stuber. "I give credit to our student-athletes for not using the conditions as an excuse. For Kelsey, it wasn't one big thing that hurt her performance today, but probably a few little things. She will bounce back on Saturday."
 
Of the three, five kilometer classic races that Dickinson has competed in this season, today was her slowest of the year as she posted times in the 16:30s at her last two events the Rhinelander Qualifier and the Central Region Championships.
 
Petra Hyncicova of the University of Colorado won the race in a time of 14:55.5.
 
Up Next
The NCAA Skiing Championships conclude on Saturday with the freestyle mass start races. The men's 20km race begins at 10 a.m. (ET), while the women's 15km race starts at noon (ET). Watch the action live at http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2017/2831&date=2017/03/11 as our very own Chad Salmela has the call.