NMU skiers top CCSA in Telemark SuperTour freestyle

Tue, Feb  3, 2009 - By Matias Saari

Martin Banerud of Northern Michigan University is back in form. Banerud, a junior from Oslo, Norway, easily posted the fastest time among Central Collegiate Ski Association racers on Sunday in a mass-start freestyle in Cable, Wis. Banerud cruised the 15-kilometer course in 33 minutes, 24 seconds, a full 25 seconds faster than teammate Phil Violett.

The pair also went 1-2 in Saturday’s classic-technique race, with Violett winning.

Kevin Cutts finished an NMU sweep of the top three spots Sunday, placing third. He was followed by Jesse Lang of Michigan Tech and Santiago Ocariz of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

While Banerud - who did not race in the first three NCAA qualifiers this season - was easily leading the CCSA, 12 skiers were bunched within a dozen seconds just ahead of him. Leif Zimmerman of the U.S. Ski Team won the overall race in 33:10, with Lars Flora just 1.6 seconds back.

For the women, NMU freshman Marie Helen Soderman of Njurunda, Sweden, took top honors, skating 10K in 24:29. Teammate Laura Dewitt, Saturday’s classic winner, was 5 seconds behind, with Anna Coulter of Alaska (Fairbanks) taking third. Julia Pierson of Alaska and Anna Berglund of NMU completed the top five.

Before breaking through on Sunday, Soderman had registered a pair of second places plus a third place in NCAA-qualifying events this season.

SuperTour leader Kristina Strandberg of Saab/Salomon Factory Team won her second overall race in as many days in 22:53, beating Nicole DeYong by 1.5 seconds. Soderman was 11th behind 10 sponsored skiers.

NMU gained eight of the 12 CCSA-podium positions in this weekend’s races, helping the Wildcats to a comfortable victory in the conference team standings. NMU had 375 points to Alaska’s 312 and Michigan Tech’s 310.

NMU continue to display its depth and now has had nine different skiers (five men, four women) finish in the top three at an NCAA qualifier this season.

Sunday’s race was the fifth of nine NCAA qualifiers for the CCSA this season. The next set of qualifying races will be Feb. 14-15 in Little Falls, Minn.

Saturday’s complete results can be found at www.pttiming.com. CCSA-only results are listed below.

For more information, contact Matias Saari, sports information director for the CCSA, at [email protected] or 907-347-9192. Also visit www.ccsaski.com

Telemark SuperTour
Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009
Cable, Wis.

Central Collegiate Ski Association team standings, NCAA-scoring
TWO-DAY OVERALL (Saturday classic plus Sunday freestyle)
1. Northern Michigan University, 375
2. Alaska (Fairbanks), 312
3. Michigan Tech University, 310
4. University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 255
5. Gustavus Adolphus College, 224
6. College of St. Scholastica, 210
7. St. Olaf College, 196
8. College of St. Benedict, 95
9. Northland College, 77
10. Saint John’s University, 74
11. St. Cloud St. University, 58

CCSA-ONLY results

Men’s 15-kilometer freestyle, mass-start
1. Martin BANERUD,  NMU, 33:24
2. Phil VIOLETT, NMU, 33:49
3. Kevin CUTTS, NMU, 34:06
4. Jesse LANG, MTU, 34:09
5. Santiago OCARIZ, UWGB, 34:12.4
6. Jens BRABBIT, GAC, 34:12.6
7. Oskar LUND, MTU, 34:26.1
8. Tyler KJORSTAD, CSS, 34:26.3
9. Justin SINGLETON, NMU, 34:51
10. Waylon MANSKE, CSS, 34:54
11. Sindre STOKKE, NMU, 35:03
12. Erik MUNDAHL, MTU, 35:05
13. Jesse SMITH, , MTU, 35:13
14. Tim COOK, NMU, 35:18
15. John PARRY, Alaska, 35:30
16. Petter SJULSTAD, MTU, 35:35.6
17. Chris HARVEY, MTU, 35:35.8
18. Oyvind Watterdal, Alaska, 35:35.9
19. Charlie KELLER, MTU, 35:43
20. Nick MAKI, UWGB, 35:45
21. Colin SINGLETON, MTU, 35:47
22. Erik SOEDERSTROEM, Alaska, 35:50
23. Alex MORRIS, Alaska, 35:54
24. Craig HERTZ, UWGB, 35:56
25. Andy CHEESEBRO, UWGB, 36:15
26. Tom JORGENSON, STO, 36:23
27. Grant COOK, SJU, 36:24
28. Stefan HUPPERTS, CSS, 36:33.6
29. Andrew JODA, MTU, 36:34.1
30. Matt NISTLER, CSS, 36:34.2
31. Anders BOWMAN, BAC, 36:36
32. Brandon PIECHOWSKI, STO, 36:39
33. Jim VAILLANCOURT, STO, 36:59
34. Mason BACSO, SJU, 37:12
35. Jeff COOK, UWGB, 37:15
36. Einar OFTEN, Alaska, 37:33
37. Elias ANOSZKO, GAC, 37:38
38. Andrew TILMAN, GAC, 37:47
39. Kirk LEACH, CSS, 37:53
40. Matt ROWE, STO, 37:55
41. Justin YOUNG, UWGB, 38:13
42. Andrew POFFENBERGER, GAC, 38:16
43. Ian GONSOLUS, STO, 38:27
44. Robert GERTEN, SJU, 38:34
45. Eric BOYLES, CSS, 38:44.1
46. David GIFFORD, SJU, 38:4.2
47. Sean KEYES, MTU, 38:54
48. Blaise SOPIWNIK, NOR, 39:02
49. Jared SUNDSTROM, SJU, 39:03
50. Logan SMESTAD, GAC, 39:11
51. Anders NIENSTAEDT, STO, 39:14
52. Anthony BYE, CSS, 39:17
53. Steven GROMATKA, UWGB, 39:19
54. Daniel GRANNES, GAC, 39:38
55. Zach HUDSON, STO, 39:44
56. Peter LARSEN, GAC, 39:47
57. Adam JOHNSON, SJU, 41:01
58. Jon KASPRISIN, GAC, 41:16
59. Oumar Cherif, SJU, 41:48.4
60. Matt PALMQUIST, SJU, 41:48.9
61. Noel COCKNEY, NOR, 42:31
62. Trevor DRAKE, SJU, 43:21
63. Kevin NEAL, SJU, 43:38
64. Christopher GOSCINAK, NOR, 43;40
65. Kory FREEBERG, GAC, 44:52
66. Kevin ROBERTSON, NOR, 45:24
67. Nathan LEURQUIN, NOR, 49:00
DNF. Steve PRIBYL, MTU

Women’s 10-kilometer freestyle, mass-start
1. Marie Helen SODERMAN, NMU, 24:29
2. Laura DEWITT, NMU, 24:34
3. Anna COULTER, Alaska, 24:35.6
4. Julie PIERSON, Alaska, 24:36.2
5. Anna BERGLAND, NMU, 24:47.6
6. Theresia SCHNURR, Alaska, 24:48.3
7. Jenna KLEIN, MTU, 24:49.1
8. Ingrid FJELDHEIM, NMU, 24:54
9. Shaina SHORT, STO, 25:08
10. Christina GILLIS, NMU, 25:17
11. Elisabeth HABERMANN, Alaska, 25:22
12. Carolyn FREEMAN, UWGB, 25:25
13. Sarah BERGERON-LAROUCHE, Alaska, 25:31.1
14. Jill SMITH, MTU, 25:31.3
15. Elizabeth QUINLEY, MTU, 25:32.3
16. Allison BOHN, GAC, 25:33.2
17. Erin EPPLER, GAC, 25:33.7
18. Lindsey MARSHALL, UWGB, 25:39
19. Christi NOWAK, CSB, 25:44
20. Christina MISHICA, MTU, 25:50
21. Kristen MONAHAN, MTU, 26:02.9
22. Karen JARVEY, MTU, 26:03.4
23. Julia CURRY, CSS, 26:17
24. Caitlin MARINE, STO, 26:21
25. Randi VERMELID, NMU, 26:22
26. Jaclyn PRIBYL, MTU, 26:24
27. Rebecca KONIECZNY, Alaska, 26:27
28. Kate WOLD, MTU, 26:40
29. Caitlin CASSIDY, NMU, 27:00
30. Anna ROESSLER, CSB, 27:01
31. Nicole LEPINSKI, MTU, 27:06
32. Megan HOLMES, CSS, 27:09
33. Jenny BECKMAN, SCSU, 27:19
34. Brittany DRENGLER, UWGB, 27:31
35. Annie DEHMLOW, UWGB, 27:39
36. Caroline LUND, CSS, 27:39
37. Laura KANGAS, MTU 27:43
38. Danielle BURGMEIER, GAC, 27:48
39. Sarah FLEMING, STO, 27:52
40. Maggie DONAHUE, CSB, 27:54
41. Mariah FEATHERLY, SCSU, 28:26
42. Diane VEZENDY, SCSU, 28:37.5
43. Cassandra BRADY, GAC, 28:37.8
44. Stephani SEYMOUR, CSB, 28:43
45. Amy PETERSON, SCSU, 28:50.6
46. Nellie ADAMS, STO, 28:51.5
47. Erin BLOW, NOR, 28:58
48. Katelyn ENGEL, CSB, 29:16
49. Kelly DONAHUE, CSB, 29:22.2
50. Hillary BOYCE, STO, 29:22.8
51. Makenzie WRIGHT, CSB, 29:29
52. Jill MANTHEY, GAC, 29:37
53. Elizabeth WILLIS, SCSU, 29:43
54. Marianne LUETMER, CSB, 29:45
55. Regina ELMER, UWGB, 30:06
56. Shannon McEVOY, CSB, 30:07
57. Laura STALLAND, UWGB, 30:32
58. Laura MAGUIRE, CSB, 30:45
59. Christina RINGSMUTH, SCSU, 31:29.7
60. Annika FERBER, GAC, 31:30.5
61. Katelyn PROW, SCSU, 31:37.2
62. Anna RIX, NOR, 31:38.1
DNF. Kelly CHAUDOIN, GAC