Junior Jen’s Brabbit led the Gustavus Adolphus men’s nordic ski team at the Central Super Tour races held at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minn. on Friday and Saturday. Brabbit finished fifth place among competing college skiers in Saturday’s 10km freestyle race with a time of 24.06.3 and sixth place in Sunday’s 15km classic with a time of 38.43.3. Gustavus finished fifth overall among competing Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) colleges with 90 points.
Gustavus tallied a total of 37 points to take sixth on Saturday as Michigan Tech University compiled 66 points to take first on the day. Anders Bowman was the other top Gustavus finisher on Saturday, placing 52nd overall with a time of 26:04.2. “Jens had a good race and the rest of the team got off to a bit of a slow start on Saturday,” said head coach Jed Freidrich after the first day of racing.
The Gusties put together a much-improved day in Sunday’s 15km classic race. Anders Bowman finished 14th among college skiers, crossing the finish line in 40:32.9. Andrew Poffenberger also showed great improvement with an 18th place finish (41:31.4). “Besides the men’s team finish today, there were some good individual results. It was especially gratifying for me because the conditions were extremely difficult for waxing and we really nailed it today. The guys had really good skis,” said Freidrich. The Gusties finished in fourth place with 53 points in the Sunday classic race.
This past weekend was the second of five NCAA National Qualifiers of the season. Throughout the season, each skier uses their two best classic and freestyle races for qualification for the NCAA Nationals.
The Gustavus men’s nordic ski team will travel to Cable, Wisc. next weekend to compete in the third NCAA Qualifier on Saturday and Sunday.
Team Results (Unofficial)
Saturday Men’s Freestyle
MTU 66
NMU 61
UAF 59
CSS 52
UWGB 44
GAC 37
SJU 31
Olaf 22
Gogebic 3
Sunday Men’s Classic
UAF 71
NMU 64
MTU 57
GAC 53
UWGB 42
CSS 39
SJU 26
Olaf 20
Gogebic 3
Men’s Overall Score
UAF 130
MTU 123
NMU 125
CSS 91
GAC 90
UWGB 86
SJU 57
Olaf 44
Gogebic 6