Gustavus women’s Nordic skier Laura Edlund turned in the highest finish by a Gustie at the NCAA Skiing Championships with a 18th-place finish in the 15K Classic race at Bohart Ranch in Bozeman, Mont. Kathleen DeWahl and Kelly Chaudoin turned in top 30 finishes at 27th and 29th, respectively. The performances by Edlund, DeWahl, and Chaudoin assured the Gusties at least an 18th-place finish in the team standings, which would be the highest finish by a Gustavus Nordic ski team.
Edlund completed the race in 1:00:56.6 against stiff competition for the 18th-place finish. DeWahl crossed the finish line in 1:02:56.5 and 27th-place, while Chaudoin missed finishing in 28th-place by less than four seconds. Chaudoin logged a time of 1:03:38.5 behind Katrina Howe of the University of Vermont.
Maria Grevsgaard of the University of Colorado, Boulder, completed the championship sweep, capturing the 15K Classic title in a time of 55:04.6. Grevsgaard had captured the 5K Freestyle title on Wednesday. Polina Ermoshina of the University of New Mexico finished second with a time of 55:59.4, which was ten seconds ahead of Antje Maempel of Dartmouth.
5K Freestyle – Wednesday, March 5
Affected by the thin air at Bohart Ranch, Gustavus Adolphus junior Kelly Chaudoin (Ely, Minn.) led the Gusties with a 35th-place finish in the 5K Freestyle at the NCAA Skiing Championships Wednesday. Chaudoin completed the 5K course in a time of 20:17.1. Kathleen DeWahl (St. Paul, Minn.) and Laura Edlund (Forest Lake, Minn.) finished closely behind in 37th and 38th place, respectively. DeWahl crossed the finish line in 20:23.8, while Edlund clocked a time of 20:25.3.
CU skier Maria Grevsgaard captured the top spot on the podium after posting a time of 17:09.8. Lenka Palanova (17:34.0) edged Annelise Bailly of Denver University(17:36.9) at the line for second place.