CABLE, Wis. – Seven members of the St. Olaf College men's and women's Nordic skiing teams began their seasons by competing at the Gitchi Gami Games on Saturday and Sunday at the American Birkie Trailhead.

Junior Lily Ward, first year Anna Peikert, and sophomore Liesl Cope-Schaeffer were in action for St. Olaf in the women's 10K and sprint competitions, while sophomores Daniel Gladkov, Lance Hastings, and Rudy Herold, as well as first year Dylan Casey, did so for the men.

On Saturday, Ward paced St. Olaf with a 22nd-place finish in the 10K in 32:04.8, followed by Peikert in 37th (33:33.3) and Cope-Schaeffer (34:03.4). Gladkov was the top finisher on the men's side in 60th (27:46.1), followed by Casey in 76th (28:37.1), Hastings in 86th (29:15.7), and Herold in 100th (29:59.8).

In Sunday's sprint competition, Ward advanced to the semifinals and placed fifth in the second semifinal (4:00.66) after taking 14th in the qualifier (3:52.39) and third in the second quarterfinal heat (3:50.44) to move on. Cope-Schaeffer was 27th (4:02.57) in the qualifier to book a spot in the quarterfinals, where she was sixth in the second heat (4:13.20). Peikert finished 38th in the morning qualifier (4:12.09) and was fifth in the final junior quarterfinal (4:20.06).

Casey placed fifth in the junior sprint bracket for the St. Olaf men with a time of 3:23.6 in the final. After placing 45th in the morning qualifier (3:23.79), Casey was third in the first quarterfinal (3:21.63) and third in the second semifinal (3:21.46). Gladkov posted the Oles' top time in the qualifier (41st, 3:22.41) before taking fifth in the final quarterfinal (3:30.22). Hasgints was 51st in the qualifier (3:25.79) and third in the second quarterfinal (3:24.71), while Herold was 56th in the morning qualifier (3:27.11) and fifth in the first quarterfinal (3:25.72).

St. Olaf will be back in action as a team at the Ariens Nordic CCSA Invite on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 24-25 at Ariens Nordic Center in Brillion, Wis.