Complete Results

CABLE, Wis. – Coming off of his best finish ever in the classic technique with a seventh on Saturday, junior #Waylon Manske# (Jr.-Bemidji, Minn.) carried that momentum into his strong suit, the 15km freestyle mass start and posted his second-best career finish in Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) competition Sunday with a fifth place finish in a time of 40:25.1 seconds.

UW-Green Bay's Santiago Ocariz topped the field with a winning time of 39:09.5 seconds. Northern Michigan's George Cartwright crossed the line second in a time of 39:41.7 seconds. Michigan Tech's Oskar Lund finished third in 40:02.6 seconds. At 23 seconds off the podium, Manske matches his best shot at the top three, when he finished the same margin off the podium at last year's CCSA Championship and a career-high fourth. The day marked Manske's best weekend in collegiate competition to date.

Junior #Mason Bacso# (Jr.-Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) bounced back with another solid performance and the fourth top ten finish in six races this season, finished 10th in a time of 41:03.8 seconds. Freshman #Jeremy Hecker# (Fr.-Andover, Minn.) kept his trend of rising up the ranks finishing 16th in a time of 42:05.5 seconds, rounding out the Saints scoring. For the second straight day the Saints men finished third as a team.

“I felt after yesterday's classic race that anything was possible for Waylon today,” said Saints head coach Chad Salmela. “He has great skis for these cold conditions, and his fitness and confidence were unquestionable after yesterday, and it looked for a long time like he was going to finish fourth.”

Manske made a move at the 12km mark that put 20 seconds on consummate rival, Gustavus' Jens Brabbit, with whom Manske will have to compete for one of the eight NCAA qualifying spots this season.

“Waylon went for it-not for the placing but the time-with about 3km left.” Qualifying points are calculated by time back, and Manske tried to pull time from Brabbit, but folded with just 500 meters left in the race. “The last kilometer had a brutal new hill and the 20 second advantage just evaporated. I think Waylon just gave so much from the time of his move and the time he hit the hill, and Jens just blew by him before the final approach to the finish,” said Salmela. “There wasn't much left in Waylon to respond. It was gutsy and a good move, but Jens is such a gritty, savvy competitor. You have to be pretty sure you can break him to go that early. Waylon obviously felt he could, but it just didn't pan out. It was a great race any way you look at it.”

The men finished third on the weekend, combining both the classic and freestyle race team scores, and led the men's and women's team to a third place finish overall for the weekend behind powerhouse Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. Alaska-Fairbanks was not present this weekend.

“These past two weekends have definitely put us at the top of the heap of those chasing the perennial powerhouses,” said Salmela. “The next step is to move into the top three teams, with all the teams present. We did it on a single day last year, and we keep inching closer. It's exciting as we go into the final two qualifying weekends of the season.”

The Saints have a week off from racing before heading into the two final weekends of racing starting with the CCSA Championships in Negaunee, Mich., February 13-14, followed by the NCAA Central Regionals at Michigan Tech, February 20-21.

CCSA NCAA Qualifier
Men's 15km Mass Start Freestyle
Telemark Resort, Cable, WI
1/31/10

1 OCARIZ, Santiago UWGB 0:39:09.5
2 CARTWRIGHT, George NMU 0:39:41.7
3 LUND, Oskar MTU 0:40:02.6
4 BRABBIT, Jens GAC 0:40:20.5
5 MANSKE, Waylon CSS 0:40:25.1
6 LANG, Jesse MTU 0:40:39.7
7 SMITH, Jesse MTU 0:40:48.3
8 COOK, Tim NMU 0:40:52.9
9 BOWLER, Chris NMU 0:40:59.7
10 BACSO, Mason CSS 0:41:03.8
16 HECKER, Jeremy CSS 0:42:05.5
23 BACSO, Kasey CSS 0:42:54.4
24 LEACH, Kirk CSS 0:43:15.1
25 NISTLER, Matt CSS 0:43:19.8
27 HUPPERTS, Stefan CSS 0:43:24.1
30 DUNFEE, Kelin CSS 0:43:47.1
31 MORGAN, Jake CSS 0:44:06.5
39 WRIGHT, Ryan CSS 0:46:15.2

Freestyle Team Scores
1 MTU 77
2 NMU 74
3 CSS 64
4 UWGB 58
5 GAC 57
6 SJU 48
7 STO 39
8 GOG 12


Men's Weekend Classic/Freestyle Combined Scores
1 MTU 155
2 NMU 154
3 CSS 131
4 UWGB 117
5 GAC 103
6 SJU 94
7 STO 82
8 GOG 22


Weekend Total Men & Women Combined Scores
1 NMU 320
2 MTU 305
3 CSS 242
4 UWGB 232
5 GAC 198
6 SJU/CSB 194
7 STO 134
8 SCSU 83
9 GOG 22