MTU first, CSS second in mini-meet at MTU
Mon, Dec 19, 2011 - By St. Scholastica
HOUGHTON, Mich. -- With snow cover limited throughout the upper Midwest, the St. Scholastica men's ski team split up with most junior (19 and under) competitors heading to Wausau, Wis. for two days of Junior Olympic Qualifier sprint races. The cancellation of the first weekend of racing, sent a small group of skiers from Northern Michigan University, Michigan Tech, and St. Scholastica to a single day, 10km freestyle mini-meet at the Michigan tech trail system.
A new coating of snow over the previous two days treated those in attendance with nearly flawless ski conditions. St. Scholastica freshman Paul Schommer (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly HS) startled Northern Michigan's star freshman recruit from Norway, Kjell-Christian Markset, leading the race at 4km by 2.7 seconds. But Markset proved too much for Schommer over the final 6km, spoiling Schommer's designs on an early-season surprise victory. Markset pulled 23 seconds out of Schommer in the final 6km to win in a time of 28:09.0, 20.3 seconds ahead of Schommer who finished in 28:29.3. Michigan Tech's, Matt Wong skied to a strong third place finish in 28:34.0.
CSS junior, Jeremy Hecker (Andover, Minn./Andover HS (Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities)), finished fifth, in 29:08.0. Junior teammate Kasey Bacso (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) rounded out the Saints top three in 10th, posting a time of 30:20.1.
"This was a great confidence builder, to come to good snow for a small race against some of Northern Michigan's and Michigan Tech's best skiers," said Saints head coach Chad Salmela. "A big part of the big picture for me is getting our skiers into race shape using races, so the addition of this race was important to me. The fact the guys were so competitive with guys like Markset, Wong, and Chris Bowler was just a nice bonus to the trip. It was a small but high-quality field."
The Saints will take a hiatus from varsity competition until the new year, with many racing independently New Years weekend at the Twin Cities Championships in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
MTU Men's 10km Freestyle
1. Kjell-Christian Markset NMU 28:09.0
2. Paul Schommer (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly HS) CSS 28:29.3
3. Matt Wong MTU 28:34.0
4. Chris Bowler NMU 28:43.4
5. Jeremy Hecker (Andover, Minn./Andover HS (Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities)) CSS 29:08.0
10. Kasey Bacso (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) CSS 30:20.1
11. Kelin Dunfee (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Central HS) CSS 31:02.7
13. Ryan Wright (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) CSS 31:50.1