The Gustavus men’s and women’s nordic ski teams turned in impressive performances in Sunday’s Saint’s Invite in Collegeville, Minn. Coach Jed Friedrich’s squad competed with a partial squad as four skiers were in Maine for the U.S. Nordic Skiing Championships and others sat out due to illness. The Gustie women edged out the College of St. Benedict by one point to win the meet, while the men finished in second place three points behind Saint John’s University.
Marian Lund and Cassandra Brady led the way for the women by placing second and third, respectively. Lund finished the course in a time of 43:18:00, while Brady finished in 44:44:00. Gustie women also occupied the eighth, ninth, twelfth, thirteenth, eighteenth, and twenty-seventh place spots on the leaderboard as the team finished with 35 points to St. Benedict’s 34.
“Our women won with strong third and fourth skiers that were topping other teams’ third and fourth skiers,” said Friedrich.
The Gustie men established a strong presence in the event with individual skiers occupying the third through ninth place slots and another in 28th place. Gabe Hanson led the Gusties, finishing in third with a time of 35:41:00 while teammate Zach Wagner finished on his heels in fourth place with a time of 35:42:00. The Gustie men finished with a total of 36 points, which fell just short of the 39 points scored by the Johnnies.
“Without Jens and Anders, I was very pleased with the depth showed by our other skiers,” said Friedrich. “Gabe and Zach led most of the race, but lost in the final sprint. It was still a very good day nonetheless.”