Houghton, MI - The men's and women's Saint Scholastica Nordic Ski teams competed on day one of two in the GLD CXC Cup Finale in Houghton, MI. The athletes competed in a 20 km freestyle mass start today to fight for a podium spot, with one of the male athletes doing so. 

Male Top Performers

Chase High (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs HS) had an excellent race and placed 3rd on the podium today, finishing with a time of 55:12.1. Next in line for the Saints was Jakob Craig (Tomahawk, WI/Lakeland Union High School) who took 11th place and finished with a time of 57:46.7. Joseph Walling (Palmer, Alaska/Mat-Su Career & Technical HS) was right behind him finishing in 12th and crossing the finish line with a 58:39.8. Jonny Saldin (Stillwater, Minn./Homeschool) finished in 15th place with a time of 58:54.6, and Leevi Tarjanne () in 19th with a 59:46.0 time. Benjamin Boelter was right behind him with a time of 59:59.8 in 20th place, just breaking the one hour mark.

Other male athletes that finished include Cameron Cruickshank () with a time of 1:00:42.1, as well as a run of three consecutive athletes: Sumner Cotton (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs HS) finished with a time of 1:02:30.4, Kai Donnelly () at 1:02:39.7, and Ivar Dragerengen (Raufoss, Norway/Lena-Valle Viderega°ende Skole) wrapped it up for the Saints with a time of 1:02:56.5.

Nordic coach Jason Kask also noted: "It was awesome to see Chase ski so well. He skied a great race and pushed hard to make it onto the podium."

Female Top Performers

For the 20 km race, Greta Leitheiser (Bend, Ore./Sun Valley Community School) led the Saints taking 9th place, finishing with a time of 1:05:2.2. Following her was Kelsey Johannes (Anchorage, Alaska/West Anchorage HS), who finished in 17th place with a time of 1:08:04.6. Charlotte (Mae) Whitcomb (Holderness, N.H./Holderness School) finished in 20th with a time of 1:08:52.2. Next in line was Emily Erickson (Anchorage, Alaska/A.J. Dimond HS) in 24th with a time of 1:10:29.5, and Maddie Gray () right behind in 25th with a time of 1:11:17.6. Avery Tolbert (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago HS) wrapped it up for the Saints in the 20 km race with a time of 1:16:01.9.

The team also had two female athletes compete in the U20/U18 division, the athletes raced a 10 km race. With that, Victoria Myers () placed 3rd with a time of 34:27.8, and Josie Kwansy () placed 6th with a time of 36:01.6.

The Saints Nordic Ski team will wrap up the competition tomorrow, February 16.