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Nordic Skiing men fourth, women seventh in Mac Invite

Kevin Johnson
January 21, 2003

The St. Olaf men's nordic skiing team finished fourth and the women seventh at the Macalester Invitational in Houghton, Michigan Jan. 18-19. The meet was originally scheduled in Cable, Wisconsin at the famed Telemark Resort, but was relocated due to a lack of snow.

The St. Olaf women were led by Mary Krusen's (FY, Kenai, Alaska) 30th place finish. Erin Forsyth (FY, Salt Lake City, Utah) and Jenny Ester (FY, Stillwater, Minn.) scored as well, earning 34th and 37th place finishes respectively. Honorary Ole, Liz Parke finished 16th. Alaska-Fairbanks Norwegian superstar Sigrid Aas won the event by nearly 20 seconds. Saturday, the Ole men were led to a 5th place finish by virtue of a stellar performance by senior Jay Eidem (Sr., Bloomington, Minn.) who finished 7th place. The scoring was rounded out by John Giese (Jr., Mora, Minn.) in 26th place and Kevin Johnson (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) in 28th. Czech skier Michal Malak, skiing for UAF took the victory by a narrow margin over Northern Michigan University's Chris Cook.

Sunday the Ole skiers were greeted with nearly half a foot of new snow and blizzard conditions for their long classic races. The men's 20k was dominated by world championship team member Chris Cook.

The St. Olaf men improved on their Saturday showing and moved into fourth in the team competition. Johnson notched the top Ole result of the day finishing in 12th place. Eidem and Giese rounded out the scoring for the team finishing 24th and 28th respectively. Winthrop Smith (FY, Portsmouth, N.H.) finished a very solid 36th in his first experience at this distance.

Northern Michigan and Alaska-Fairbanks showed they were in excellent form by controling the women's 13k classic race. The Ole women battled hard through the tough conditions to finish a very respectable 7th place. They were led by Forsyth and Krusen in 22nd and 23rd places. Ester and Evans rounded out the team in 42nd and 46th places.

"I think the weekend went very well," said head coach Siiri Carver Morse.

Next weekend, the team will travel to Ironwood, Michigan where they will host the St. Olaf Invitational.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3315 or finger@stolaf.edu.