RESULTS

CABLE, Wis. (csssaints.com) – Four St. Scholastica men's nordic skiers were able to qualify for Saturday's quarterfinal heats of the classic sprint races part of the Gitchi Gami Games on the American Birkebeiner course.
 
Sprint Racing
In a sprint event, each athlete starts by trying to qualify by time, racing the sprint course against the clock. The fastest 30 times in the field advance to five quarterfinals in which the first two skiers across the line advance as well as the fastest two skiers from the quarterfinals who were not in the top two. The same happens in the semifinals, whittling the field down to six athletes in the finals to determine the winner and rank order. All skiers outside the top 30 end the day in the order they finished the qualifier.
 
Qualifiers
Freshman Samuel Olson (Duluth, Minn./Homeschooled) posted the fastest qualifying time for the Saints, posting a time of 3:25.69 good for 10^th overall. Junior Isaac Wieber (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech HS) would be 21^st overall with a time of 3:31.75. Sophomore Gabe Raguse (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd HS) was 25^th at 3:34.51 and freshman Bjorn Larson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Colorado State)) was 28^th at 3:36.20. Freshman Gus Schatzlein (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake HS) would just miss qualifying in 31^st overall.
 
In the quarterfinals, Raguse had the best performance of the four, placing fourth in his heat with a time of 3:36.52. All four skiers saw their days end in the quarterfinals.
 
Up Next
The Saints will take part in the 10km classic Sunday morning beginning at 9 a.m.