Biwabik, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s and women’s nordic skiing teams competed in day one of their second NCAA qualifier Saturday. No team scores were available following today’s races. Both teams competed in the Classic technique this afternoon and will make the change to Freestyle tomorrow for day two of competition.
The Gustavus women were led by Erica Hett (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) for the second straight weekend. Hett put forth the strongest effort of her collegiate career and finished in sixth place with a time of 20:03.7.
“Erica was the highlight for the day,” stated head coach Jed Friedrich. “She had one of the best results of her college career. She was skiing really strong and you could tell she has a having a good race. With one skier starting every 30 seconds, it was exciting seeing the splits on her during the race.”
Marian Lund (Jr., Duluth, Minn.) and Mata Agre (Fy., Corcoran, Minn.) also finished in the top 30 for the Gusties. Lund finished in 21:16.1 for 22nd place while Agre crossed the line in 22:41.6 for a 28th place finish.
On the men’s side, Zach Wagner (Sr., Marquette, Mich.) led the way with a 23rd place finish in 37:21.8.
“Zach led our men’s team today, which was good to see,” said Friedrich. “After not feeling great last weekend, it was encouraging to see him get back on track.”
Josh Blankenship (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) was the only other Gustie to finish in the top 30. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 37:46.3 for 27th place.
The two squads will race again tomorrow with the Freestyle technique.