MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – St. Scholastica junior #Waylon Manske# (Jr.-Bemidji, Minn.) posted his best Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) finish Sunday in a classic technique competition, finishing 16th in the men's 15km mass start classic at Theodore Wirth Park, to lead an abbreviated men's roster to a sixth place team finish.

Manske suffered a big fall on a fast, tricky downhill that halted a charge from further back in the field, four kilometers from the finish, but finished strong to maintain his first top-20 classical finish of his career in a time of 40:47.7 seconds. Wisconsin-Green Bay's Santiago Ocariz won in a time of 37:41.1 seconds. Alaska Fairbanks' Erik Soederstroem finished second in 38:13.0 seconds, and Northern Michigan's Kevin Cutts finished third in 38:21.9 seconds.

Junior #Mason Bacso# (Jr.-Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) fresh off a seventh place finish Saturday struggled to a 19th place finish Sunday in a time of 41:37.5 seconds, and freshman #Ryan Wright# (Fr.-Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) stepped up to round out the scoring for the Saints in 22nd with a time of 42:25.4 seconds. The Saints sat out three skiers due to sickness and fatigue.

“The guys skied hard today and Waylon gained a lot of confidence with his performance,” said Saints head coach Chad Salmela. “Mason struggled with a lack of kick from the choice of skis, and just felt flat from such a big effort in yesterday's skate race. With #Kasey Bacso# (Fr.-Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata), #Stefan Hupperts# (Jr.-North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View), and #Matt Nistler# (Jr.-Bemidji, Minn.) out, Ryan Wright (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS) put in a big effort today and had a nice race. Overall, it's disappointing to finish sixth, because we know we're better than that as a team, but it also is a testament to the depth of the conference, because we really skied pretty well today overall.”

The Saints take to the snow next weekend in CCSA NCAA qualifying competition at the Telemark Resort Supertour in Cable, Wisconsin.

CCSA NCAA QUALIFIER MEN'S 15km MASS START CLASSIC
THEODORE WIRTH PARK, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
1/24/10

1 OCARIZ, Santiago SR/MA UWGB 0:37:41.1
2 SOEDERSTROEM, Erik SR/MA UAF 0:38:13.0
3 CUTTS, Kevin SR/MA NMU 0:38:21.9
4 SABO, Ray SR/MA UAF 0:38:26.6
5 LUND, Oskar SR/MA MTU 0:38:32.1
6 BRABBIT, Jens SR/MA Gustavus College 0:38:43.3
7 PARRY, John SR/MA UAF 0:39:05.1
8 CARTWRIGHT, George OJ NMU 0:39:24.3
9 COOK, Tim SR/MA NMU 0:39:37.1
10 SMITH, Jesse SR/MA MTU 0:39:52.2
16 MANSKE, Waylon SR/MA CSS 0:40:47.7
19 BACSO, Mason SR/MA CSS 0:41:37.5
22 WRIGHT, Ryan OJ CSS 0:42:25.4
26 HECKER, Jeremy OJ CSS 0:42:52.7
29 MORGAN, Jacob OJ CSS 0:43:01.6
33 LEACH, Kirk SR/MA CSS 0:43:20.1

TEAM RESULTS
1 UAF 71
2 NMU 64
3 MTU 56
4 GAC 51
5 UWGB 40
6 CSS 36
7 SJU 23
8 STO 17
9 GOG 3