CCSA Weekend Wrap Up
By Corey Coogan
February 14, 2005
This weekend's CCSA race, hosted by St. Cloud State and
St. John's University/College of St. Benedict, was held at
Camp Ripley after last week's "unseasonably warm"
temperatures consumed the snow at Greystone, the planned site.
Camp Ripley was an unusual choice for CCSA, as the region
has not held a meet there in recent history, if ever. Indeed,
the venue was completely new to most of the competitors. As
in the weeks proceeding, air temperatures were high, and klister
was a necessity for the classic race.
The story of the weekend may have been who wasn't there.
Most notably, University of Alaska-Fairbanks elected to stay
home this weekend, and not come back down to the Midwest until
next week's Regional Championships in Houghton. By not competing
at Camp Ripley, UAF forfeited athletes' opportunity to earn
points towards NCAA qualification. It's a testament to the
strength of the UAF team that they can afford to skip a weekend
and still qualfify. With four wins to his credit, Thomas Oyberg
has locked up his NCAA qualfication, and teammates Erik Wickstrom
and Jed Kallen-Brown are almost certain to join him. On the
women's side, with a win and a second place, Johanna Turunen
has secured her spot. As well, Kasandra Rice will likely qualify,
although because of illness at the Telemark events, her qualfication
is not assured. Also conspicuously absent from Camp Ripley
was Lindsay Williams, who is off at World Championships!
Womens
Even without Lindsay, the women of NMU were, once again,
totally dominent. On day one, the five-kilometer individual
start classic, Northern earned a perfect score of 87, when
Tami Kochen won (her second CCSA victory of 2005), followed
by Lindsey Weier, just a second behind, and Morgan Smyth,
third. In the ten-kilometer skate mass-start of day two, Lindsey
Weier skied to the win (her second skate mass-start win in
as many weekends). Her margin was a mere two seconds over
teammate Kochen. Michigan Tech's standout Kristina Owen was
the third skier across the line, preventing Northern from
claiming a perfect score on the day. Still, not exactly a
bad day for the Wildcats, who took home a score of 86, even
without Lindsay Williams!
The Gustavus women, perhaps motivated by their surprise victory
over UAF last Sunday, had another great weekend, taking second
Saturday and third Sunday. In the five-kilometer classic Kelly
Damrow posted her best-ever collegiate skiing result, taking
eighth-place. Teammates Chandra Daw and Laura Edlund (a freshman)
finished close behind in tenth and eleventh. Sunday was Chandra
Daw's day as she also recorded her best-ever collegiate result,
a sixth place finish. Edlund and Damrow also scored on Sunday,
earning 12th and 15th places, respectively. Daw's performances
at Ripley, as well as her skate result at Telemark, give her
an outside chance at qualifing for NCAAs.
While UWGB was overcome by Gustavus in Saturday's classic
and finished third, the team rallied in Sunday's mass-start,
moving back up to second. Junior Johanna Winters led the Phoenix
on day one with a ninth place that further enhanced her chances
of making NCAAs. Teammates, sophomores Tanya Cook and Rosy
Walsh were the team's other scorers in 15th and 16th. Cook
led the team on day two, outsprinting Winters to the line,
as the duo captured seventh and eighth. Walsh was again in
the scoring mix, coming across the line in 13th.
On both days, fourth and fifth place came down to a battle
between St. Olaf and Michigan Tech. St. Olaf proved the better
classic performer, taking fourth, 61 to 57 over Tech. Linn
Dale led the Oles on both days, earning 12th on the first
day, and 11th on the second. The difference in the team's
classic may have been Bria Schurke's outstanding 13th place
result. Stephanie Block was the number-three Ole in both the
weekend's races. Michigan Tech owes much to Kristina Owens'
consistent top results, fourth and third on the weekend, but
this time also Stephanie Oehlke deserves much credit, as she
posted two solid results, 23rd and 19th. Andrea Metz was the
team's third scorer, recording two top-30 finishes.
The teams of College of St. Benedict, St. Cloud State University,
and Finlandia University were sixth, seventh, and eighth,
respectively, on both days.
Mens
Photo: Don Harris |
Without UAF, the men's race had a significantly different
flavor than usual. For one, the absence of Thomas Oyeberg,
who has six wins in six races to his credit, meant that some
other man could win a CCSA event. Bryan Cook proved to be
that man, taking the victory both days, winning the ten-kilometer
classic of day one by 59 seconds, and then breaking from the
mass-start field of day two, taking the 16-kilometer event
by nearly a minute.
Before this weekend, if one were to predict the team victor
in UAF's absence, NMU would be the choice; few would argue
that any other team had a chance. Indeed, NMU proved the winner
on both days, but Saturday's victory was the tightest, a mere
one point, over Michigan Tech. Aaron Ditty and Adam Airoldi
stepped up to have the best race of their season, taking second
and third, the first "podium" of their respective
CCSA careers. Freshman Chris Harvey took sixth to become Tech's
third scorer. Not to be outdone, Mikael Kilpela, while not
contributing to the team score, was right behind Harvey in
seventh. This outstanding day brought the Tech team 82 points,
putting them only one place point behind NMU's 83.
On Sunday the NMU men resumed their position on top of the
results sheet. Behind the winning effort of Cook, Bill Bowler
took second, and Gus Kaeding fourth. University of Wisconsin-Green
Bay's Ben Mogren skied to a surprising third-place, thereby
preventing the Wildcats from recording a perfect score. NMU
"settled" for an 86, while Mogren's efforts set
the tone for the Phoenix, who grabbed second in the team standings
with a score of 76. Teammate Shane Hoelz also stayed close
to the Wildcat skiers, as he crossed the line in seventh.
Andy Cheesebro was the team's final scorer, finishing tenth.
Dan Deroma did not score in Sunday's skate, but his eighth
place on Saturday led the Phoenix in the classic.
St. Olaf captured fourth in the weekend-long team standings,
after having the better of their two days in Saturday's classic,
where the team took fourth. Oliver Garrison made the top-ten
both days, and on Sunday outsprinted UWGB's Hoelz, capturing
sixth place. Teammates Nate Erlandson and Jake Boyce were
the Oles' other scorers with Boyce having a standout 16th
place performance in the classic.
The Gustavus men were fifth on the weekend, after having
a rough Saturday (sixth) followed by a strong Sunday (third).
In the mass-start classic, the team put four athletes in the
top-20: Erich Ziegler finished in the top-ten, in 8th, while
Nate Porath was 11th, Lorin Skoglund 19th, and Andy Rishavy
20th.
When the weekend's team results were totaled, St. John's
University found themselves in sixth, after having had a stronger
day in the classic (fifth). Christian Brekke was the team's
top classic skier, finishing 13th, while Donald Harris was
13th in the skate.
Macalester College and Finlandia University were seventh
and eighth, respectively, on both days.
Next weekend is "the finale," the CCSA Regional
Championships in Houghton. The CCSA Regional Team Champion
will be based exclusively on the weekend's outcome, as no
results recorded previously are held over. In contrast, for
individuals, the weekend's races are the ninth and tenth chances
to accumulate points towards NCAA qualification. For most,
next weekend is the end of the season, while a "lucky-13,"
six men and seven women, will advance to NCCA Championships
held March 10-12 in Stowe, Vermont.
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