CABLE, Wis–Michigan Tech’s Oskar Lund and Northern Michigan’s Laura DeWitt each grabbed their second individual win of the year in the USSA Central Super Tour race at Telemark Ski Resort in Cable, Wisconsin. The 5/10k classic event was the start of the CCSA’s third qualifying weekend. Northern Michigan was sitting in first place on the men’s and women’s side after the first day of competition.
In the men’s race, Oskar Lund triumphed on the 10-kilometer course handily in a time of 29:28, nearly a minute ahead of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Santiago Ocariz (30:27). The Michigan Tech men were solid behind Lund, with senior Jesse Lang (30:46) in 5th followed by Jesse Smith (31:36), Luke Gesior (31:37), and Petter Sjulstad (31:40) in places 9-11. The Huskies were in second place after day 1 with 78 points, just 2 behind Northern Michigan. NMU put 3 in the top 6 behind a 3rd from freshman George Cartwright (30:28), a 4th from Chris Bowler (30:29), and a 6th from Kevin Cutts (31:04). The College of St. Scholastica sat in 3rd in the team competition with 67 points behind a 7th-place result from Waylon Manske (31:07) and an 8th from Kasey Bacso (31:31). The UWGB men were 4th with 59 points on the back of Ocariz and his 2nd-place result. Nick Maki pitched in from 22nd and Jeff Cook in 28th to round out the scoring. Jens Brabbit (31:50) in 13th led Gustavus Adolphus to the team’s 5th-place finish with 46 points, backed by Anders Bowman (33:56) in 27th. The St. John’s men tied for 5th behind a 20th from Trevor Drake and a 23rd from Grant Cook. Tom Jorgenson led the St. Olaf’s team from 24th and the top Gogebic Community College skier was Ben Noren in 40th.
The women’s team results resembled the men’s near the top. Laura DeWitt’s (17:30) first-place campaign on the 5-kilometer course was backed by Christina Gillis (17:40) in 3rd and Marie Helen Soderman (17:49) in 5th, allowing NMU to take the day 1 lead with 84 points. Michigan Tech’s 75 points put them in 2nd. The Huskies were led by Henna Riikonen-Purts (17:44) in 4th and solidified by Elizabeth Quinley’s (18:05) 6th and Jenna Klein’s (18:28) 9th.
Carolyn Freeman (17:38) equaled the 2nd-place result of male teammate Santiago Ocariz with a 2nd of her own to lead Wisconsin-Green Bay. Lindsey Marshall (18:50) posted a solid result in 12th to help the Phoenix into 3rd place. Eleanor Magnuson led the St. Scholastica women with one of the strongest results in program history, as she finished in 8th. Teammate Julia Curry (18:52 also posted a strong result to push the CSS women into 4th with 56 points, just 3 behind UWGB.
Megan Smith’s 15th (18:59) and Christi Nowak’s 19th (19:19) led the St. Benedict women to 5th place with 50 points, also within striking distance. The Gustavus Adolphus women, led by Erica Hett (18:55) in 14th, were another team point behind, sitting in 6th placewith 49 points. Jenny Beckman (19:21) cracked the top 20 to lead St. Cloud State and was supported by a 24th from Hannah Sanborn (19:47). Sarah Fleming led the St. Olaf’s women from 34th.
Rebecca Dussault won the overall women’s title, while Brian Cook took down the men’s race. Sunday, January 31 is day 2 of the SuperTour weekend and Telemark will again host, this time a freestyle race. The Alaska men and women’s teams were not in attendance for the SuperTour.
