CCSA Weekend Wrap Up
By Corey Coogan
January 24, 2005
The Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) held their
second NCCA qualifier in conjunction with the Mount Itasca
SuperTour last Saturday and Sunday. Collegians competed seeded
within the Noram field, in Saturday's ten-kilometer skate,
as well as in Sunday's ten (men) and five (women) kilometer
classic events.
The trails at Mount Itasca wind up and down the mountain's
alpine and jumping hills, including a maximum climb of thirty-nine
meters, making it one of the most challenging courses in the
Midwest. After receiving X inches of snow on Friday, this
after several weeks of consistent snowstorms, trail conditions
were soft, especially during Saturday's event.
The most dominant performance of the weekend came from the
NMU women's team who emerged victorious both days, even earning
a perfect score on Sunday when Lindsay Williams, Lindsey Weier,
and Morgan Smyth went one-two-three in the collegiate field.
Williams, U.S. Nationals Sprint Champion and newly appointed
member of the 2005 World Team, outraced teammate Weier by
13 seconds on Sunday's classic, but Weier was the faster of
the two on the previous day's skate, when she finished second
to UAF's Johanna Turunen. Turunen's skate race, where she
was second in the Noram field to Canada's Tasha Betcherman,
was her first CCSA win in 2005, and the third of her career.
Also contributing to the NMU Wildcats stellar team score was
Tami Kochen, third in skate, and 2005 World Junior Team member
Morgan Smyth, third in classic.
The UAF Nanooks were second in the women's field both days,
in both instances falling short of NMU by more than ten points.
Turunen followed up on her success of the first day by skiing
to fifth on day two's classic. Sophomore teammate Kasandra
Rice backed up Turunen with two eighth-place results on the
weekend. Graduate student Heidi Rader was the Fairbanks Nanooks'
third scorer in both the skate in classic, turning in two
17th place results. Notably absent from the UAF ranks was
Kristen Halla, a Norwegian who just joined the team, having
enrolled for second semester. Halla, who was not yet eligible
for competition at U.S. Nationals, looks to be the Nanooks
number three skier.
The battle for team third-place was a tight one between the
women's teams University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Gustavus
Adolphus College. NCAA Division I Green Bay defeated the Gusties
on day one, but the tables turned on day two when Division
III Gustavus came out ahead. Green Bay's efforts were led
by junior Johanna Winters (tenth, ninth) and sophomore Tanya
Cook (ninth and 12th). On both days, Gustavus depended on
freshman Laura Edlund, junior Chandra Daw, and senior Kelly
Damrow for point scoring.
Kristina Owen, Michigan Tech's top skier, skied to fifth
and sixth, and further solidifying her chances for her first
NCCA Championships berth. Her team finished fifth on Satuday
and sixth on Sunday.
St. Olaf was sixth on Saturday, but defeated Tech on Sunday
to grab fifth place. The Oles were led by sophomore Linn Dale
(14th, 10th). Freshman Bria Schurke was also close behind
in the skate race, as she skied to15th place.
The teams from College of St. Benedict and St. Cloud State
finished seventh and eighth, respectively, on both days.
After four races, two at U.S. Nationals and this weekend's
Norams, Northern's duo of Lindsay and Lindsey appear shoe-ins
for NCAAs qualification, with Williams qualified by virtue
of her World Championships Team status. Who will take Northern's
third-place slot remains somewhat up in the air in a battle
between Tami Kochen, who leads by ranking, and Morgan Smyth,
who has earned NMU an automatic berth due to World Juniors
qualification. UAF's Turunen will qualify, as should Kasandra
Rice, but it remains to be seen whether Kristen Halla is able
to become the teams third qualifier. Tech's Owen's chances
of qualification seem fairly secure. University of Wisconsin-Green
Bay will likely field a qualifier in either junior Johanna
Winters or sophomore Tanya Cook.
Results at U.S. Nationals yielded the belief that the Central
Region would send two full mens' teams, and no individuals,
to NCAA Championships. Nothing that happened this weekend
did anything to debunk that belief. At this time, the top
male skier from the region is clearly UAF freshman Thomas
Oyberg. Oyberg won both ten-kilometer races in a dominant
fashion with margins of 1:03 and 0:48. His success, along
with the performances of teammates, juniors Jed Kallen-Brown
(fourth, third) and Erik Wickstrom (third, sixth), secured
the Nanooks team victories on both days. UAF also demonstrated
ample depth, placing five skiers in the top-ten on both days.
While not able to win on either day, the NMU Wildcats showed
speed and depth on the weekend, placing six athletes in the
top-15 on both days. Sophomore Gus Kaeding took second place
in the skate, and was followed by senior Bryan Cook and freshman
Bill Bowler, fourth and fifth, respectively. In the classic
race, it was Bryan Cook who secured the number two position,
and freshmen Bret Bedard and Justin Singleton, who scored
in sixth and seventh.
The men's teams from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and
Michigan Technological University showed themselves to be
almost equally matched on the weekend. In the skate race,
it was Green Bay who skied to third place in the team standings.
Their margin of victory, however, was a slim two points. UWGB
freshman Andy Cheesebro earned the team's top skate result,
tenth, while Ben Mogren was 15th, and Shane Hoelz 18th. For
Tech's part, Adam Airoldi finished 12th, Chris Harvey 14th,
and Mikael Kilpela 21st in the skate. Day two was Tech's day
to secure third, as they beat Green Bay by five points. Kilpela
scored for a second time with his 12th place, but Chris Ditty
11th and Chris Harvey 16th made their first points of the
weekend. Green Bay also had a change-up in the scorers with
three new individuals making points: Ben Dubay 14th, Ben Mogren
15th, and Casey Krueger 18th.
Gustavus was fifth both days, showing themselves to be the
best of the Division III schools. St. John's University was
sixth, St. Olaf seventh, and Macalester eighth both days.
With Central men allowed just six NCAA slots, and Fairbanks
and Northern so dominant, it seems unlikely other schools
will qualify male skiers. The question then becomes which
UAF and NMU skiers will make the cut. Thomas Oyberg's qualfication
is a lock with four wins in as many races. Teammate Tyson
Flaharty is provisionally named to the Junior World Team,
and so may qualify, but teammates Erik Wickstrom, Jed Kallen-Brown,
and Jonas Tetlie all seem like good bets, being as they are
ranked ahead of Flaharty. Nanook Marius Korthauer, although
he did not race at Mt. Itasca, had strong results at U.S.
Nationals and so cannot be ruled out. After four races Bryan
Cook is the top-ranked Northern skier. Bret Bedard was Northern's
number two after Nationals, but after two strong days in Itasca
Gus Kaeding may assume that position once points are tabulated.
Bill Bowler has two strong skate results, but has yet to earn
the necessary classic points.
CCSA has six qualifying races remaining on their schedule.
Next weekend will find the athletes at Telemark for the Noram,
which is also a collegiate qualfier. Sunday's skate race will
be the CCSA's first mass-start qualifier of the season.
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