Jacks and Jills ski up the hills at Mt. Itasca.
The Northland Nordic ski teams competed in their first CCSA qualifying meet at the Mt. Itasca NorAm SuperTour in Coleraine, MN this past weekend. Skiing in sub-zero temperatures on both days, the team had solid performances from each member.
Junior Christopher Goscinak led the men’s team with a 50th place finish each day. Goscinak’s 10K classic time was 33:41 and his 10K freestyle time was 35:24. “The snow was very cold and slow, most of the freestyles times were actually slower than the previous day’s classic times.” States head coach Dave Beeksma, “Skating in such extreme cold weather is very hard work.” Goscinak has shown tremendous improvement over last season. “Chris’ time in the freestyle yesterday was 3:38 faster than his best 10K freestyle race last year. With such slow conditions, that is very impressive!” Comments Coach Beeksma. Also showing strong improving is Sophomore Kevin Robertson. “Kevin improved his 10K classic time over last year’s best by 5:11, again, pretty amazing considering how slow the snow was today.” Adds Coach Beeksma. "This is more evidence that our system produces improved skiers." Robertson finished 53rd in the freestyle race on Sunday. Freshman Noel Cockney, competing in his first CCSA races, had a strong showing placing 53rd in Saturday’s classic race with a time of 36:18 and 52nd in Sunday’s Freestyle race with a time of 37:07. Sophomore Nate Leurquin placed 55th with a time of 45:06 in the classic race and 54th with a time of 45:35 in the freestyle race.
Petter Sjulstad of Michigan Tech won the men’s classic race with a time of 26:14 while Santiago Ocariz of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay won the men’s freestyle race with a time of 25:45.
Leading the Jills for the women was First Year Erin Blow. Blow has been Northland’s most solid and consistent skier all winter entering the CCSA qualifier races. The women’s team has been slowed this year with First Years Bonnie Johnson and Nikki Kwasny being sidelined with Mononucleosis. “having half of our team out sick really hurts.” States coach Beeksma, “but you continue on no matter what the obstacles. Erin has been solid all year, a very consistent performer and a good head on her shoulders .” Blow finished 44th both days with a time of 40:02 in the classic race and 40:40 in the freestyle race. Fellow First Year Anna Rix placed 55th in the classic race with a time of 43:43 and 51st in the freestyle race with a time of 45:22.
Laura DeWitt of Northern Michigan won the women’s classic race with a time of 31:32 and Kelly Chaudion of Gustavus Adolphus won the women’s freestyle race with a time of 31:09.
The Nordic team resumes CCSA qualifying next weekend at the Telemark NorAm SuperTour in Cable, WI with the women’s classic race beginning at 9am and the men’s at 11am on Saturday and the men’s freestyle at 9:30am and the women’s at 10:45 on Sunday.
Classic results
Freestle results