FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College of St. Scholastica
May 27, 2011
Ahmed, Dubay, Lead Incoming St. Scholastica Skiers in 2012
WOMEN
The Saints also garner the second best graduating Minnesota skier from last year's state meet, Elizabeth Peterson, of Forest Lake. Peterson was runner up to Ahmed in the freestyle portion of the 2011 Minnesota State Meet and finished the pursuit in 4th overall on the day.
Peterson's Forest Lake teammate, Jen Scott, Green Bay, Wisconsin's Mary Kozloski, and Kaitlin Bakker of Bemidji, MN, have also committed to the Saints ski team for 2012.
The incoming women will try to fill varsity spots left open by 2011 graduates, Julia Curry and Lindsay Wallis, and join an already-talent laden women's program led by senior captain, Eleanor Magnuson, junior, Christina Groulx, and sophomore, Brooke Adams.
"With this recruiting class, the women's ski team is looking about how I envisioned it someday when I took the job five years ago," says Saints head coach, Chad Salmela. While the Saints have had competitive individual women in years past, they have never had anyone qualify for the NCAA Championships. Magnuson and Curry were first and second alternates in 2010. But Salmela has never had the kind of depth at the top of the team that he sees for 2012 and believes the first qualifier will come from someone on the current roster. "If you look at the physical talent and desire on our 2012 women's roster, we now have multiple skiers capable of the NCAA Championship level. We've never been the kind of team I believe we will be in 2012 and beyond. With how young the bulk of this team is, Saints women's skiing has a very strong future. It's exciting."
MEN
Coon Rapids, Minnesota native, Joe Dubay, has postponed college for several years, competing in the interim at the highest junior level in both the United States, and while living and training in Finland. Dubay is the 2008 US Junior National Champion in the J1 classic sprint, and won the 2009 Finnish Junior National Championship 30km mass start freestyle, skiing for the Sotkamon Jymy ski club near Vuokatti, one Finland's major Nordic ski centers. The two victories show Dubay's pure ability and range, and his presence at St. Scholastica will be felt immediately.
Last year's Minnesota State High School boys champion in the 5km classic, Chris Parr from Eagan, MN, also joins the Saints men in 2012, adding further long-term competitive depth to the already-deep men's squad. Parr and Dubay will be joined by Bend, Oregon's Michael Widmer, Ely, Minnesota's, Jon Haaverson, and Mark Hugus of Wausau, Wisconsin, as new men on the roster.
The men's team lost more skiers to graduation in 2011 than in any season prior, with Waylon Manske (Bemidji, MN), the team's top performer, his co-captain, Stefan Hupperts (North Oaks, MN), and Mason Bacso (Plymouth, MN) all graduating. Manske and Bacso are two of the most accomplished skiers in program history. Jeremy Hecker (Andover, MN), the second alternate to the US Junior World Championship team last year, leads Scott Johanik (Washburn, WI), Kasey Bacso (Plymouth, MN), Kelin Dunfee (St. Paul), and captain, Jake Morgan (Bozeman, MT) as the top returning varsity skiers. Adding further depth to the program are returning athletes who did not use a year of collegiate eligibility last season, Kirk Leach (Hopkins, MN), Ryan Wright (Forest Lake, MN), John Wessling (Maple Grove, MN), Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI), and Nick Power (Duluth, MN).
The Saints men's program posted its first and best NCAA Championship performance in its second season when Bjorn Bakken finished 15th in the 10km freestyle at the 2008 NCAA Championships in Bozeman, MT. Tyler Kjorstad also qualified for the NCAAs in 2009 in Rumford, ME, but the Saints have not returned to the championships since. While Salmela feels the absence of CSS at the NCAAs the last two seasons is due more to increased difficulty of qualifying than weakness of the program, he still would like to see the trend reversed in 2012.
"Our best skiers the last two years would have gone to NCAAs had there been the same quota spots we qualified Bjorn and Tyler under, so our best skiers are really no worse than they've ever been, and our 8th skier has continually been at a higher level every year," said Salmela. "We just haven't gone forward under the fewer qualifying spots, but I think we've been just as competitive or more so as a team in the CCSA."
Still, Salmela sees NCAA qualification as important and this team as capable of more even under tighter qualification quotas. "The fact is, if it gets tougher, you have to get better. With the talent, desire, and focus of the existing skiers, and that of the new skiers coming in, qualification is just going to be a symptom of a more competitive team. We've never been this good at the top and this deep. Everyone is going to have to ski really fast just to win an intra-squad time trial or even to make the varsity team next year. That has good implications for real competition."