RHINELANDER, Wis. – The St. Olaf College men's and women's Nordic skiing teams both recorded first-place finishes at the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) Regional Championships to book their spots at the USCSA National Championships on Saturday and Sunday at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom.

Both St. Olaf teams won the Sprint and 10K Freestyle competitions to place first overall and secure their spots at the USCSA National Championships, which will be held March 10-15 at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Ore.

In Saturday's 10K Freestyle, first year Paavo Rova, first year Daniel Gladkov, and junior Tait Myers were the top-three individual men's finishers. Rova posted a winning time of 31:01.64, followed by Gladkov in 31:10.95, and Myers in 31:25.28. Sophomore Trey Bosworth was also in the top 10 in 10th (32:11.42).

In the women's 10K Freestyle, St. Olaf had the next eight finishers after Anne Straka of the University of Wisconsin won the individual title. Sophomore Lily Ward (38:36.75), first year Liesl Cope-Schaeffer (39:01.06), senior Mira Tomten (39:04.30), and sophomore Ava Rothe (39:12.56) rounded out the top five, while first year Lizzy Weider (39:41.74), first year Louisa Lamarre (39:39.98), junior Grace Chandler (40:53.34), and first year Annika Fuhrmann (41:20.08) finished sixth through ninth, respectively.

In Sunday's sprint competition, both St. Olaf teams had four of the top five finishers in the finals, including a sweep of the top-four positions for the women's team. To start the day, both teams qualified eight individuals for the quarterfinals in the qualifier, with Oles accounting for three of the top four men's times and six of the top eight women's times.

All eight of the St. Olaf women to qualify for the quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals, with Ward, Fuhrmann, Cope-Schaeffer, and Weider all winning their quarterfinals heats. In the semis, Ward, Fuhrmann, Cope-Schaeffer, and Lamarre secured spots in the final with top-two finishes. In the final, those four recorded the four fastest times, as Cope-Schaeffer logged a time of 4:13.99, followed by Ward (4:16.30), Fuhrmann (4:22.48), and Lamarre (4:25.20).

The St. Olaf men advanced four from the quarterfinal heats, as Myers, first year Lance Hastings, Gladkov, and Myers all moved onto the semifinals, with Hastings, Myers, and Rova winning their heats. All four Oles claimed spots in the final, where Rova (3:29.26), Hastings (3:30.75), Gladkov (3:32.99), and Myers (3:34.87) finished second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

Meanwhile, senior Lily Hubanks and sophomore Amae Kam-Magruder traveled to Houghton, Mich. to race at the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) Championships. In Saturday's 20K Freestyle, Hubanks placed 12th (28:16.1) and was joined in the top 20 by Kam-Magruder in 16th (29:09.4). The next day, Hubanks took 10th (1:05:59.9) and Kam-Magruder was 13th (1:07:05.4) in the 7.5K Classic.

Hubanks and Kam-Magruder's performances earned St. Olaf 62 points in the team standings and a fourth-place finish out of five teams despite having just two representatives at the meet.