Complete Results

CABLE, Wis. – Sophomore #Eleanor Magnuson# (So.-Champlin Park, Minn.) transferred to The College of St. Scholastica at the semester break after ski racing on her own for a year while attending the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Wanting a larger school experience, Magnuson chose to handle the logistics of ski racing on her own at UMD.

But this fall, the stress and effort of doing it herself began to wear on the sophomore and she made the move to CSS to support her goals in the sport by becoming part of the varsity team. Her impact on the program was instant, culminating in a program-best weekend by a female skier, with an eighth place finish in Saturday's classic, and a women's program-best fifth place in Sunday's 10km mass start freestyle.

Magnuson also posted an all-program-best 10th place in an open USSA Supertour in the process Saturday, against some of the top domestic ski racers in the United States and Canada. The college racing took place within the continental cup Supertour.

Michigan Tech's Henna Riikonen-Purtsi got her first career CCSA win in a time of 30:52.6 seconds. Northern Michigan made it a 2-3 finish with Laura DeWitt second and Monica Markvardsen third, in 30:52.6 seconds and 31:04.6 seconds respectively. Magnuson clocked in at 32:13.5 seconds for fifth, junior #Julia Curry# (Jr.-Woodbury, Minn.) finished 13th in 33:01.0 seconds, and senior #Megan Holmes# (Sr.-Gilbert, Minn./Mesabi East) crossed the line 38th in 36:06.2 seconds to round out the Saints scoring.

Magnuson started conservatively, running between seventh and ninth through the first half of the race, and moved up through the ranks in the closing kilometers.

“Eleanor got a clean start and moved right into the lead group and she didn't need to stress out at the start,” said Saints head coach Chad Salmela.

Meanwhile, her teammate Curry, who has been having a breakout season herself, had her pole stepped on at the start, forcing her to the ground and getting tangled so that she left the stadium in the bottom third of the field.

“As cleanly as Eleanor got out, Julia had equally as poor a start. But I have to give her a ton of credit for keeping her cool and just turning a really bad break into quite a good performance, all things considered. She would have chalked up another top 10 without that start.”

Magnuson skied just as smart only the great start put her in contention with all but the top three collegiate skiers most of the race.

“Eleanor just stayed in the chase pack, near the front but never forcing the pace. When they got to the big final hill, she had caught some skiers off the front group who blew up, then just skied that last uphill with a vengeance, and the result of her decision-making shows up in the results.”

The Saints women finished fourth for the second day in a row, also finishing in fourth for the weekend among women's teams. The women and combined with the men to finish third overall amongst CCSA programs 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 head-to-head with Green Bay, chasing the perennial favorites,” said Salmela. “Eleanor and Julia have put us in another realm as a team, both upping their performance level from the past. When we have a good race from Megan Holmes (Gilbert, Minn./Mesabi East HS) or anyone else for our third scoring position, we're really in it. It's tough losing out that closely to the Green Bay women, but it's nice to be fighting for third.”

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
Women's 15km Mass Start Freestyle
Telemark Resort, Cable, WI

1 RIIKONEN-PURTS, Henna MTU 0:30:52.6
2 DEWITT, Laura NMU 0:31:04.6
3 MARKVARDSEN, Monica NMU 0:31:27.7
4 FREEMAN, Carolyn UWGB 0:32:00.1
5 MAGNUSON, Eleanor CSS 0:32:13.5
6 SODERMAN, Marie Helen NMU 0:32:14.6
7 MARSHALL, Lindsey UWGB 0:32:24.6
8 FJELDHEIM, Ingrid NMU 0:32:26.0
9 GILLIS, Christina NMU 0:32:31.4
10 KLEIN, Jenna MTU 0:32:34.8
13 CURRY, Julia CSS 0:33:01.0
38 HOLMES, Megan CSS 0:36:06.2
39 LUND, Caroline CSS 0:36:43.4
46 JOHNSON, Lindsey CSS 0:38:29.6
50 JOHNSON, Sarah CSS 0:38:49.1
58 KALLEMEYN, Mary CSS 0:40:37.1

Team Scores
1 NMU 82
2 MTU 75
3 UWGB 58
4 CSS 57
5 CSB 53
6 GAC 49
7 SCSU 41
8 STO 29

Women's Weekend Classic/Freestyle Combined Scores
1 NMU 166
2 MTU 150
3 UWGB 115
4 CSS 111
5 CSB 100
6 GAC 95
7 SCSU 83
8 STO 52


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