The Gustavus men’s nordic ski team compiled 103 points over the weekend to take fifth place among competing Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) schools at the Central Super Tour Ski Meet held at the Telemark Resort in Cable, Wisc. Jens Brabbit was the top Gustavus skier with a 13th place finish (31:50.02) in Saturday’s 10km classic, and a fourth place finish (40:20.5) in Sunday’s 15km freestyle. The two-day event was the third of five NCAA qualifying weekends.
Other top finishers on Saturday included Anders Bowman and Andrew Poffenberger. Bowman finished 26th among college skiers with a time of 33:56.2, while Poffenberger finished 29th with a time of 34:06.2. Michigan Tech University’s Oskar Lund took first place (29:28.2) among college skiers on the day.
Along with Brabbit’s fourth place finish in Sunday’s 15km freestyle race, Bowman added a top-15 finish among CCSA skiers. Bowman crossed the finish line in 41:33.0, taking 12th place. Anders Bowman qualified for Junior Nationals, but has declined the trip. Logan Smestad finished in 32nd (44:28.3), while Poffenberger rounded out the top Gustavus skiers by taking 33rd (44:53.5). Santiago Ocariz of UW-Green Bay was top college skier, taking first with a time of 39:09.5.
“Jens had a gutsy and level headed performance. Jens was skiing in a chase group of 5 skiers for the first 8km and a skier fell in front of him, taking Jens down. Jens collected himself and skied smart without panicking. He ended up catching back up and beating all of the guys in that chase group. He bridged about a 20-30 meter gap on the final climb and pulled away on the downhill. It made for some very exciting racing,” said Head Coach Jed Friedrich at the conclusion of the weekend.
Michigan Tech took first place over the weekend with 155 points, as Northern Michigan took second with 154, and the College of Saint Scholastica finished third with 131.
The Gustavus men’s nordic ski team will travel to Marquette, Mich. to compete in the CCSA Championship on February 13-14.
Team Women Men Total
1. NMU 166 (1) 154 (2) 320
2. MTU 150 (2) 155 (1) 305
3. CSS 111 (4) 131 (3) 242
4. UWGB 115 (3) 117 (4) 232
5. GAC 95 (6) 103 (5) 198
6. STO 52 (8) 82 (7) 134
7. CSB 100 (5) 100
8. SJU 94 (6) 94
9. SCSU 83 (7) 83
10. GCC 22 (8) 22