QUALIFYING RESULTS | FINAL RESULTS

CABLE, Wis. (csssaints.com) – Senior Jack Christianson (Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) placed third overall and first-year skier Cody Schneider (Arbor Vitae, Wis./Lakeland Union HS) was sixth to lead the St. Scholastica men's nordic ski team on Saturday in the freestyle sprints at the Gitchi Gami Games on the American Birkebeiner Trailhead.
 
Sprint Racing Format
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.
 
Top Performers
A total of 10 Saints would qualify for the knockout round. Joe Lynch (St. Anthony Village, Minn./St. Anthony HS) led the Saints in qualifying with a time of 3:33.53, which was third-fastest overall. Schneider was fourth-fastest and Christianson eighth-fastest.
 
In the quarterfinals, Schneider, Gus Schatzlein (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake HS) and William Omodt (Plymouth, Minn./Armstrong HS) each won their heats. Christianson placed second behind Omodt to also advance to the semifinals.
 
In the semifinal round, Christianson was second in his heat, while Schneider was third, but Schneider was also able to advance to the finals on time.
 
In the finals, Christianson posted a time of 3:28.18 to finish third, while Schneider was at 3:30.66 to finish sixth overall.
 
Up Next
The Saints are back in action tomorrow (Sunday) for the individual start 10km classic race. Unlike today's event, tomorrow's event will be a CCSA points race with action beginning at 9:30 a.m.