Three CCSA Teams in College Cup Top Five

US Championships

Mon, Jan  8, 2007 - By Matias Saari, CCSA

Houghton, Mich. - The Central Collegiate Ski Association placed three teams among the top five for the College Cup, a tabulation of collegiate results from the classic and freestyle races at the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships.

NMU took the Cup, in which 27 schools participated, with 790 points. Dartmouth was runner-up at 757, followed by the CCSA's Alaska Nanooks (702), the University of Alaska Anchorage (619) and host CCSA-school Michigan Tech (613).

"It gives you a little idea of how things might stack up at the NCAA Championships (for Nordic teams)," said Alaska Nanooks coach Scott Jerome.

Other CCSA schools included Gustavus Adolphus College (12th with 404 points), Wisconsin-Green Bay (14th with 360), St. Scholastica (20th, 208), St. Olaf (21st, 202), St. Benedict (22nd, 152), St. John's (24th, 90), and St. Cloud St. (26th, 46).

With the U.S. Nationals contested in the Midwest for the first time since 1992, all but a few of the CCSA schools attended. NMU clinched the Cup largely on the strength of its star-studded women's team, which scored 61 more points than Dartmouth to offset a 28-point deficit from the men's results. NMU's Lindsey Weier, Lindsay Williams and Maria Stuber went 1-2-3 in College Cup results in Thursday's 10-kilometer freestyle, while Weier, Williams and Morgan Smyth were 1-2-6 in Wednesday's 5K classic race. Weier, a two-time Olympian, actually beat all competitors in the classic to claim her first U.S. championship.

The Alaska Nanooks women were paced by Aurelia Korthauer (third in classic, fifth in freestyle), while Julia Coulter was seventh in the freestyle and twin Anna placed 11th.

Kristina Owen paced Michigan Tech's women with a seventh in the classic and 11th in the freestyle.

For the men, NMU's Martin Banerud (seventh freestyle, 13th classic), Bill Bowler (eighth and 16th) and Phillip Violett (10th and 18th) paced the Wildcats to a runnerup men's showing. For the Alaska Nanooks, Marius Korthauer of the Alaska Nanooks placed third in each race, while Vahur Teppan was ninth in classic. Andrew Lang led Michigan Tech with 10th place in the classic and 11th in freestyle, while Adam Airoldi was 21st in freestyle.

Each CCSA schools' top result is as follows: St. Scholastica, Tyler Kjorstad, 19th in freestyle; Gustavus Adolphus, Brynden Manbeck (26th in classic) and Laura Edlund (26th in freestyle); Wisconsin-Green Bay, Santiago Ocariz, 28th in classic; St. Olaf, Linn Dale, 56th in classic; St. Benedict, Christina Nowak, 53rd in freestyle; St. John's, Tom Dehler, 73rd in classic; St. Cloud St., Melissa Walden, 86th in freestyle.

The Cup was scored in the NCAA format, with results from each school's top three skiers in each gender constituting an overall score.