Skiers from seven CCSA schools in line for NCAAs
Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - By Matias Saari
If the season ended today, seven schools in the Central Collegiate Ski Association would be represented at the 2008 NCAA Nordic Skiing Championships.
The 11--team conference has completed half of its eight qualifying races so far, with another pair on tap this weekend at Telemark Resort in Cable, Wisc.
After two freestyle and two classic races, Marius Korthauer of the Alaska Nanooks leads the men’s standings while skiers from Northern Michigan University hold down the top three women’s spots (Morgan Smyth, Laura DeWitt and Maria Stuber, respectively).
Currently, NMU has six skiers in qualifying positions, Alaska has five, Michigan Tech has four, Gustavus Adolphus has three and St. Scholastica, Saint Olaf, Wisconsin Green Bay have one apiece.
Those numbers could change once the top two freestyle and top two classic results are tabulated from the remaining qualifying races at the Telemark SuperTour and the NCAA Central Region Championships Feb. 16-17 in Biwabik, Minn.
Based on strong results from the past two NCAAs, the CCSA has earned 11 NCAA spots for women and 10 for men for the 2008 championships March 5-8 in Bozeman, Mont.
The top 20 scores (a combined average for freestyle and classic) in each gender are listed below. Because the maximum a school can qualify for NCAAs is three per gender, Bjorn Bakken of Saint Scholastica (ranked No. 12) and Kelly Chaudoin of Gustavus Adolphus (also ranked No. 12) currently hold down the final spots.
The complete rankings are found at the bottom of this article.
Men:
1. Marius Korthauer, UAF, 118.6
2. Martin Banerud, NMU, 135.7 (only two races completed so far)
3. Vahur Teppan, UAF, 146.1
4. Phil Violett, NMU, 153.7
5. Jesse Lang, MTU, 153.7
6. Santiago Ocariz, UWGB, 172.5
7. Justin Singleton, NMU, 172.8
8. Adam Airoldi, MTU, 181.6
9. Gus Kaeding, NMU, 182.2
10. Kevin Heglund, MTU, 187.4
11. Bill Bowler, NMU, 192.4
12. Bjorn Bakken, CSS, 194.8
13. Craig Hertz, UWGB, 195.6
14. John Parry, UAF, 202.0
15. Chris Harvey, MTU, 203.7
16. Andreas Schnitzer, UAF, 204.9
17. Zach McGill, UAF, 208.9
18. Andrew Joda, MTU, 210.0
19. Jens Brabbit, GAC, 213.2
20. Ray Sabo, UAF, 214.0
Women:
1. Morgan Smyth, NMU, 119.2
2. Laura DeWitt, NMU, 123.4
3. Maria Stuber, NMU, 138.8
4. Aurelia Korthauer, UAF, 150.9
5. Anna Coulter, UAF, 155.4
6. Tanya Cook, NMU, 168.1
7. Kathleen DeWahl, GAC, 176.4
8. Jenna Klein, MTU, 178.6
9. Elisabeth Habermann, UAF, 178.9
10. Laura Edlund, GAC, 183.2
11. Shaina Short, STO, 185.0
12. Kelly Chaudoin, GAC, 197.4
13. Ashley Pletcher, UWGB, 203.7
14. Andrea Metz, MTU, 204.4
15. Anna Berglund, NMU, 207.3
16. Jenna Dickinson, UWGB, 209.6
17. Carolyn Freeman, UWGB, 216.2
18. Laura Kangas, MTU, 216.9
19. Christi Nowak, CSB, 222.7
20. Jackie Pribyl, UWGB, 224.7
Link to complete men's points list and women's points list as of January 21, 2008