The Gustavus men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams had strong showings at the first event of the season with six top-three finishes at the Trollhaugen Classic Sprints in Dresser, Wis. on December 8-9. Saturday’s races consisted of 1.3 km classic sprint races, while 1.3 km freestyle classic sprint races were held on Sunday.
Kathleen DeWahl (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) turned in the best performances of the weekend as she won both classic and freestyle races in the Women’s Senior Division (ages 20 and older). Sarah Willis (Sr., Willmar, Minn.) was right behind DeWahl as she finished second in the freestyle race and third in the classic race.
On the men’s Nordic ski team, Andrew Tilman (Fy., St. Louis Park, Minn.) and Jens Brabbit (Fy., Winona, Minn.) were among the top finishers in the Older Junior Division (ages 18-19) for both races. Tilman recorded a third-place finish in Saturday’s classic race, while Brabbit finished seventh. Roles were reversed in Sunday’s freestyle race as Brabbit finished second and Tilman finished fifth.
In sprint events, skiers race against the clock in qualifying time trials to advance to future rounds. The twelve fastest racers in each age division qualified for the finals of each race. Both Nordic ski teams will participate in the United States Cross Country Skiing Championship at the Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center in Houghton, Mich. on Jan. 1-6.