RHINELANDER, Wis. – The St. Olaf College men's and women's Nordic skiing teams both qualified for the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association (USCSA) National Championships by virtue of their top-two finishes at the Midwest Collegiate Ski Association (MSCA) Regional Championships this past weekend at Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Center.
The St. Olaf women swept the podiums on both days to post a perfect team score of 12 over the two days and win the team title, while the men were second in the team standings with a score of 38 after winning the 10k skate and placing second in the 10k classic. The top-two finishes punched both teams' tickets to the USCSA National Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. next month.
Senior
Erica Meyers, sophomore
Julia Everest, and first year
Lily Hubanks went 1-2-3 in Saturday's 10k skate to start the weekend. Meyers led the way with a time of 36:25.7, with Everest not far behind in 36:39.1 Hubanks crossed the line in third in 37:28.5 to round out the 1-2-3 finish. The 1-2-3 result gave the Oles a first-place team finish with a score of six points, 13 ahead of second-place UW-Madison.
In the men's 10k classic, senior
Peter Carlen posted his first of two individual titles on the weekend by edging Michigan Tech's Henry Campbell by 5.1 seconds with a time of 30:32.3. Classmate
Brian Olson placed fourth in 31:39.0, while sophomore
Forrest Dorsey was 13th (33:53.2) to give the Oles a team score of 17 points to tie atop the team standings with Michigan Tech.
Hubanks, Meyers, and Everest again went 1-2-3 in Sunday's 10k classic, although the order of finish changed with Hubanks placing first (37:26.1), Meyers second (38:36.2), and Everest third (41:25.7). With the second podium sweep of the weekend, St. Olaf finished 19 points ahead of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities to secure the MCSA regional title by 35 points over the two days.
Carlen was again the winner of the men's 10k classic on Sunday, finishing over 35 seconds ahead of Michigan Tech's Nick Petersen with a time of 33:07.0. Olson and Dorsey also finished in the top-15 in eighth and 12th, respectively, as St. Olaf finished second to Michigan Tech with 21 points in the team standings. The Huskies edged the Oles by nine points for the regional title with 29 points over the two days, although the second-place finish was enough to punch St. Olaf's ticket to nationals.
The races also served as the fourth of five events in this year's Midwest Collegiate Cup. The Oles currently sit third in both the men's and women's standings heading into Saturday's American Birkebeiner in Cable, Wis.
