Maria Stuber continued the dominance of the Northern Michigan University Nordic skiers this season, winning a SuperTour freestyle race in Cable, Wis., as the Wildcats placed three in the top four overall.
Stuber, a senior from Waukesha, Wis., toured the 5-kilometer course at the Telemark Resort — the starting point for the famous American Birkebeiner race — in 15 minutes, 45 seconds, seven seconds faster than her teammate Morgan Smyth. Johanna Winters of Team CXC was third (15:55.6), edging Laura DeWitt of NMU by .1 seconds.
NMU’s trio of Stuber-Smyth-DeWitt, all of whom have won Central Collegiate Ski Association NCAA-qualifying races this season, led the Wildcats to a perfect women’s team score of 96 points in the CCSA rankings. The Alaska Nanooks, with the next three CCSA finishers, were second with 84. Gustavus Adolphus College from St. Peter, Minn., took third with 76.
Temperatures at Telemark were in the teens and the snow was reportedly faster than it has been at other competitions in recent weeks.
In the men’s race, Marius Korthauer stayed undefeated in the CCSA this season by winning the 10-kilometer race in 27:01. Bryan Cook, formerly of NMU, took second in 27:13 while former Olympian John Bauer placed fourth in 27:47. Martin Banerud of NMU was the CCSA runner-up (and fifth overall) while Santiago Ocariz of Wisconsin-Green Bay was third in the CCSA and seventh overall.
NMU led the men’s standings with 89 points, followed by Alaska with 80 and St. Scholastica of Duluth, Minn., with 76.
NMU easily took the combined team standings with 185 points, followed by Alaska with 164. Gustavus Adolphus — which is in line to qualify three women for the NCAA Championships in March — took third with 131 points, edging Wisconsin-Green Bay (129) and Michigan Tech (127).
Sunday’s classic technique event should be adventurous. The mass start will feature 155 skiers in the men’s race and 116 in the women’s.
Visit www.pttiming.com/raceresults.php for complete results.
Best individual CCSA-placing from each school:
NMU — Maria Stuber, 1st
Alaska — Marius Korthauer, 1st
Wisconsin-Green Bay — Santiago Ocariz, 3rd
St. Scholastica — Bjorn Bakken, 5th
Michigan Tech — Jesse Lang, 6th
Gustavus Adolphus — Laura Edlund, 7th
St. Olaf — Shaina Short, 13th
St. Benedict — Christi Nowak, 18th
Northland — Sara Domek, 20th
St. John’s — Mason Bacso, 31st
St. Cloud St. — Mariah Featherly, 40th
CCSA team standings from Saturday’s races:
WOMEN
1. Northern Michigan University, 96
2. Alaska (Fairbanks), 84
3. Gustavus Adolphus, 76
4. Wisconsin-Green Bay, 64
5. Michigan Tech, 56
6. St. Benedict, 48
7. St. Olaf, 44
8. St. Scholastica, 36
9. St. Cloud St., 22
9. Northland, 22
MEN
1. NMU, 89
2. Alaska, 80
3. St. Scholastica, 76
4. MTU, 71
5. UWGB, 65
6. GAC, 55
7. St. Olaf, 44
8. St. John’s, 36
9. Northland, 17
COMBINED
1. NMU, 185
2. Alaska, 164
3. GAC, 131
4. UWGB, 129
5. MTU, 127
6. St. Scholastica, 112
7. St. Olaf, 88
8. St. Benedict, 48
9. Northland, 39
10. St. John’s 36
11. St. Cloud St., 22