STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—The Central Collegiate Ski Association wrapped up intercollegiate racing at the final day of the NCAA Championships Saturday. The Steamboat Springs event was 15 kilometers for the women and 20 for the men.

Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Santiago Ocariz was the lone All-American finisher among the 15 CCSA racers, taking 10^th place in the men’s race in 49 minutes, 44 seconds, 25 seconds behind the winner—UVM’s Franz Bernstein.

The men’s race was a close one near the top, with less than a minute separating 1^st place from 19^th. His finish also snagged a 12^th-place team finish for the Phoenix in the men’s race. It was the best men’s race at the NCAA championships in school history. Still, the CCSA men after Ocariz had a tough time with the 20k course. Northern Michigan first-year George Cartwright (51:43) was the next conference finisher in 30^th place. NMU, the only CCSA team with 3 men in the field, also had redshirt freshman Chris Bowler (52:18) in 34^th and sophomore Kevin Cutts (54:19) in 38^th. The NMU men were 14^th as a team in the race.

Alaska first-year Tyler Kornfield (52:00) finished just behind Cartwright in 31^st. John Parry, Kornfield’s Alaskan teammate, was 35^th in 52:34. The Nanooks took 15^th as a men’s team. Michigan Tech’s Oskar Lund (52:11) was 33^rd in the senior’s final collegiate race. Jens Brabbit (55:09) was 39^th for Gustavus Adolphus College.

Although the CCSA women didn’t place any finishers in the top 10, 3 from the Central Region were in the top 20. Laura DeWitt (43:26) was 12^th to lead the conference and the NMU women. Teammate Monica Markvardsen (43:36) was not far behind in 14^th.

Carolyn Freeman (43:59) had a very strong race representing the UW-Green Bay Phoenix in 17^th place.

Aurelia Korthauer (45:16), who just missed All-American honors in the classic race, was the first Alaska Nanook to cross the line in 26^th. Theresia Schnurr, the other UAF skier in the field, was 37^th in a time of 47:50 to put the Nanooks in 13^th as a team for the race. NMU’s Christina Gillis (47:02) took 34^th to round out the scoring for the Wildcats, who were an impressive 6^th place for the women’s race with 60 points. Michigan Tech’s Henna Riikonen-Purtsi did not finish the race.

In the final team standings, Northern Michigan was the top conference team in 14^th of 22 teams, scoring 166 points. Alaska was 15^th with 118, and Wisconsin-Green Bay was 17^th with 88. Denver took the overall team title with 785.5 points.

Saturday’s event marked the final collegiate race for several CCSA skiers. Santiago Ocariz, the top male skier in the conference this year, is in his final year of eligibility at Wisconsin-Green Bay. Michigan Tech senior Oskar Lund also wrapped up a very fine career that included several trips to the NCAA’s.

Laura DeWitt skied her final race for the Northern Michigan Wildcats, going out with a strong finish. Aurelia Korthauer, among the conference’s top skiers all year long, is in her final season with the Alaskan women. It was also the final race for Henna Riikonen-Purtsi of Michigan Tech.

Still, the conference also sent several underclassmen to Steamboat Springs that provide hope for next year and beyond. All three NMU men were sophomores or younger, while Alaska’s Tyler Kornfield is a first-year. NMU skier Monica Markvardsen just completed her first collegiate ski season as well, and Theresia Schnurr still has 2 season left with the Nanooks.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Fifteen of the Central Collegiate Ski Association’s fastest men and women skied in Thursday’s classic event at the NCAA Championships. The Steamboat Springs, Colorado setup was 5 kilometers for women and 10 for the men. It was the first day of Nordic competition at the championships, and the CCSA skiers were looking to prove themselves against the country’s top collegiate competition.

In the women’s race, 3 CCSA skiers finished in the top 15. Although winner Antje Maempel (16:03) of the University of Denver may as well have been skiing a different course in her 47 second victory, the results tightened up for the rest of the top 20. Laura DeWitt led all CCSA women with an 8^th-place result and received All-American status in the process. The Northern Michigan senior was just 12 seconds off the podium. Alaska teammates Aurelia Korthauer and Theresia Schnurr were next across in 11^th and 15^th, respectively. The duo led the Nanooks to a 7^th-place team effort in the women’s portion of the race, the best such result for the CCSA. Monica Markvardsen of Northern Michigan was 24^th, helping the Wildcats into 8^th place with 52 points for the race.

Henna Riikonen-Purtsi was 28^th for Michigan Tech in the 39-racer field. Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Carolyn Freeman represented the Phoenix from 32^nd. Christina Gillis, the CCSA’s top points-getter this season, took 37^th for NMU to round out the women’s scoring. The University of Denver, with two women on the podium—Maempel and Mari Elden—was the top team in the race with 121 points. Rosie Brennan from Dartmouth took 2^nd to round out the top 3.

The CCSA men had a more disappointing result. University of Colorado skier Matt Gelso claimed the men’s title in 29:25, a commanding win of almost 25 seconds. Santiago Ocariz of Wisconsin-Green Bay was 13^th on the 10-kilometer course, but no other conference skier cracked the top 20. John Parry of Alaska, who claimed the CCSA’s final qualifying spot, took 22^nd, while teammate Tyler Kornfield took 25^th. Right behind the Alaskans was Northern Michigan skier Kevin Cutts in 26^th. His teammates George Cartwright and Chris Bowler, who have taken turns as the top Wildcat skier all year, were 28^th and 30^th, respectively. The 3 NMU skiers put the men in a CCSA-best 10^th place for the race.

Oskar Lund of Michigan Tech snuck between the NMU skiers in 29^th. Jens Brabbit of Gustavus Adolphus was 34^th, rounding out the conference skiers. The University of Colorado was the top team for the race with 111 points behind Gelso’s victory and another skier in 4^th. University of Vermont’s Franz Bernstein was 2^nd in the race, while Nevada’s Charlie Smith took 3^rd.

The University of Denver was in 1^st after 2 days of competition, one of Alpine and one of Nordic, and had 420 team points. Northern Michigan was the top CCSA team, in 12^th place of the 21 teams. Alaska-Fairbanks was 13^th. The 15/20k freestyle race will wrap up NCAA championship competition on Saturday, March 13^th. For complete results see ncaa.com.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—Given the length and variability of ski racing, any coach or racer will tell you it is important not to put too much emphasis on a single event. With that said, though, the Central Collegiate Ski Association may have slightly more than usual riding on this week’s NCAA Championships. The events for this year’s championships run from March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with the Nordic events on the 11^th and 13^th at Howelsen Hill. The first event is the classic race, 5 kilometers for the women and 10 kilometers for the men, while the freestyle races are 15 and 20 kilometers.

The reason this year’s results carry so much meaning for the CCSA is because last year’s races did not go according to plan. In the classic race, the CCSA had just 3 top-15 finishers and no All-Americans in the men and women’s races combined. Michigan Tech’s Jesse Lang picked up an All-American eighth-place finish in the freestyle race, but only one other man (NMU’s Martin Banerud, in 11^th) joined Lang in the top 20. No female CCSA competitor placed in the top 15 in the skate race.

As a result, the number of qualifying spots available was slashed from 20 to 15. CCSA women sent 11 competitors to Rumford, but can send just 7 this year to Steamboat Springs, while the men’s number dropped from 9 to 8. “We got thumped at NCAA’s last year as a region,” acknowledged University of Alaska-Fairbanks coach Scott Jerome entering this season. “We now know what we need to do better. We all need to be better.”

Still, all signs point toward better results this season. Of last year’s top competitors, many have returned and still others have emerged as threats on not just regional but national levels. The U.S. Nationals races in Anchorage Jan 2-8 were a step in the right direction, as some of the nation’s top collegiate finishers were CCSA skiers.

Now, though, the region’s 15 representatives have a chance to erase last year’s underperformance with what looks to be a good year for the conference. Skiers from 5 schools will represent the region.

Northern Michigan University is sending a full squad of 3 women, women who will be representing a strong team that finished 1-2-3 on each day of the Central Region Championships. Laura DeWitt and Christina Gillis were the region’s 2 top qualifiers, and teammate Monica Markvardsen could be near the top of the results page as well. Alaska qualified 2 women for NCAA’s, Aurelia Korthauer and Theresia Schnurr. Korthauer could contend in either race, and also brings experience, as this is her 3^rd trip to NCAA’s. Schnurr, meanwhile, produced top-5 results at U.S. Nationals to show she can also rub elbows with the nation’s best. Michigan Tech’s Henna Riikonen-Purtsi, her school’s top skier in every race this year, will represent the Huskies. Carolyn Freeman, a junior from Wisconsin-Green Bay, will ski for the Phoenix in her second NCAA competition.

The Northern Michigan men also qualified a full team of 3 skiers. First-year George Cartwright leads the team and is backed by Kevin Cutts, a sophomore, and Chris Bowler, a redshirt freshman. Cartwright, winner of the freestyle race at the Central Region Championships, should be especially competitive in the 20k. The three Wildcat underclassmen also show impressive promise for the future. Alaska was the only other school to qualify more than one male skier, with Tyler Kornfield and John Parry traveling to Steamboat to represent the Nanooks. Kornfield was the sprint champion at U.S. Nationals and has impressive speed to go along with Parry’s strong classic ability.

The top CCSA threat may be Santiago Ocariz of Wisconsin-Green Bay. This will be the fourth NCAA Championship for the Phoenix senior, who was the top collegiate skier at Nationals and is the top-ranked freestyle and classic male from the Central Region. Michigan Tech qualified Oskar Lund and narrowly missed qualifying 2 more skiers, the first and second alternates. Lund, the winner of 4 races this season, gives the Wildcats potential near the top. Jens Brabbit rounds out the team as the lone representative from Gustavus Adolphus. The junior was the fourth overall qualifier on the men’s side. Complete list of qualifiers is below:

NCAA Release

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Skiing Committee announced today the 74 men and 74 women selected to participate in the 2010 National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championships, to be held March 10-13 at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and Howelsen Hill Ski Area in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The championships will be hosted by the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Participants are selected on a regional basis from two designated regions for Alpine skiing (East and West Regions) and three designated regions for Nordic skiing (Central, East and West Regions). Bids are awarded to regions using a formula determined by the skiing committee. A maximum of 12 student-athletes (three per gender per discipline) may participate from an institution.

Alpine events will run March 10 and 12 at Steamboat Springs. The men’s and women’s giant slaloms will be held March 10 at Mt. Werner, with the men’s and women’s slaloms conducted March 12 at Howelsen Hill.

Nordic events will be held March 11 and 13 at Howelsen Hill. The men’s 10-kilometer and women’s five-kilometer classical cross-country races will be conducted March 11. The women’s 15-kilometer and men’s 20-kilometer freestyle races will be held March 13.

Highlights of the skiing championships will be shown on CBS at 1 p.m. Eastern time, Saturday, May 1. CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA will feature highlights of 17 different NCAA championships, each taking place during the winter season.

PARTICIPANTS BY DISCIPLINE AND REGION (listed alphabetically by name):

ALPINE
East Region – Men East Region – Women
Paul Atkinson, New Hampshire Veronique Archambault-Leger, New Hampshire
Chris Colpitts, Vermont Dana Breakstone, Colby
Mike Cremeno, New Hampshire Laurel Carter, Williams
David Donaldson, Vermont Ashley-Kate Durham, St. Lawrence
Alex Dyroff, Williams Nicole Dvorak, Middlebury
Willie Ford, New Hampshire Aileen Farrell, New Hampshire
Erik Gilbert, Vermont Courtney Hammond, Dartmouth
Brad Harden, St. Michael’s Lyndee Janowiak, Vermont
Bump Heldman, Bates Valerie Kechian, Vermont
Josh Kernan, Colby Marie-Elaine Lepine, New Hampshire
Trevor Leafe, Dartmouth Geordie Lonza, Williams
Vincent Lebrun-Fortin, Colby Emily Porter, Williams
Jacob Lund, Middlebury Annie Rendall, Dartmouth
Ben Manter, Bates Kelsey Roddick, Dartmouth
Luke McLaughry, Dartmouth Meg Ryley, Vermont
Bobby Poehling, Middlebury Tasha Woodworth, Middlebury
Bryan Shpall, Middlebury
Ace Tarberry, Dartmouth

West Region – Men West Region – Women
Christopher Acosta, New Mexico Anne Cecilie Brusletto, New Mexico
Andreas Adde, Alaska Anchorage Lindsay Cone, Denver
AJ Avrin, Denver Ida Dillingoen, Denver
Chris Barber, Montana State Kayla Fry, Alaska Anchorage
Petter Brenna, New Mexico Petra Gantnerova, Alaska Anchorage
Halfdan Falkum-Hansen, Alaska Anchorage Erika Ghent, Colorado
Martin Harris, Nevada Amy Harris, Nevada
Andreas Kilde, Denver Katie Hartman, Colorado
Leif Kristian Haugen, Denver Malin Hemmingsson, New Mexico
Torjus Krogdahl, Utah Erika Horst, Nevada
Kyle Kung, Utah Eva Huckova, Utah
Max Lamb, Utah Anna Kocken, Utah
Michael Mackie, Montana State Amy Lattimer, Montana State
Spencer Nelson, Colorado Carolina Nordh, Colorado
Gabriel Rivas, Colorado Alex Parker, Alaska Anchorage
Drew Roberts, Colorado Nicole Poleschuk, Nevada
Thomas Schwab, New Mexico Sofia Smith, Utah
Jennie VanWagner, Denver
Kate Williams, New Mexico

NORDIC
Central Region – Men Central Region – Women
Chris Bowler, Northern Michigan Laura DeWitt, Northern Michigan
Jens Brabbit, Gustavus Adolphus Carolyn Freeman, Green Bay
George Cartwright, Northern Michigan Christina Gillis, Northern Michigan
Kevin Cutts, Northern Michigan Aurelia Korthauer, Alaska Fairbanks
Tyler Kornfield, Alaska Fairbanks Monica Markvardsen, Northern Michigan
Oskar Lund, Michigan Tech Henna Riikonen-Purtsi, Michigan Tech
Santiago Ocariz, Green Bay Theresia Schnurr, Alaska Fairbanks
John Parry, Alaska Fairbanks

East Region – Men East Region – Women
Franz Bernstein, Vermont Anya Bean, New Hampshire
Wyatt Fereday, Colby Jennie Bender, Vermont
Patrick Johnson, Middlebury Katie Bono, Dartmouth
Benjamin Knowles, St. Lawrence Rosie Brennan, Dartmouth
Nils Koons, Dartmouth Caitlin Curran, Vermont
Dimitri Lüthi, Williams Claire Egan, Wellesley
Dylan McGuffin, New Hampshire Lauren Fritz, Middlebury
Patrick O’Brien, Dartmouth Lucy Garrec, Colby
Eric Packer, Dartmouth Natasha Kullas, New Hampshire
Zachary Wetherell, St. Lawrence Alice Nelson, Williams
Eric Wolcott, St. Lawrence Caitlin Patterson, Vermont
Natalie Ruppertsberger, Bates
Ida Sargent, Dartmouth

West Region – Men West Region – Women
Elias Bucher, Nevada Jaime Bronga, Alaska Anchorage
Tor Christopherson, Alaska Anchorage Kate Dolan, Denver
Andrew Dougherty, Denver Mari Elden, Denver
Matt Gelso, Colorado Polina Ermoshina, New Mexico
Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, New Mexico Maria Graefnings, Nevada
Miles Havlick, Utah Eliska Hajkova, Colorado
Martin Kaas, New Mexico Steffi Hiemer, Alaska Anchorage
Vegard Kjoelhamar, Colorado Rose Kemp, Utah
Martin Liljemark, Utah Kaelin Kiesel, Montana State
Harald Loevenskiold, Denver Linn Klaesson, New Mexico
Pierre Niess, New Mexico Casey Kutz, Montana State
Jesper Ostensen, Colorado Sarah MacCarthy, Utah
Tyler Reinking, Montana State Antje Maempel, Denver
Bernhard Roenning, Montana State Mellie Park, Montana State
Michael Schallinger, Alaska Anchorage Joanne Reid, Colorado
Ryan Scott, Montana State Laura Rombach, Alaska Anchorage
Charlie Smith, Nevada Kristin Ronnestrand, Nevada
Didrik Smith, Utah Zoe Roy, Utah
Kristian Soerlund, Denver Alexa Turzian, Colorado
Lex Treinen, Alaska Anchorage

Participants By Institution Men’s Alpine Women’s Alpine Men’s Nordic Women’s Nordic Total
Alaska Anchorage 2 3 3 3 11
Alaska Fairbanks 0 0 2 2 4
Bates 2 0 0 1 3
Colby 2 1 1 1 5
Colorado 3 3 3 3 12
Dartmouth 3 3 3 3 12
Denver 3 3 3 3 12
Green Bay 0 0 1 1 2
Gustavus Adolphus 0 0 1 0 1
Michigan Tech 0 0 1 1 2
Middlebury 3 2 1 1 7
Montana State 2 1 3 3 9
Nevada 1 3 2 2 8
New Hampshire 3 3 1 2 9
New Mexico 3 3 3 2 11
Northern Michigan 0 0 3 3 6
St. Lawrence 0 1 3 0 4
St. Michael’s 1 0 0 0 1
Utah 3 3 3 3 12
Vermont 3 3 1 3 10
Wellesley 0 0 0 1 1
Williams 1 3 1 1 6

The University of Denver will enter the 2010 National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championships as the two-time defending champion after claiming its record 20th title at last year’s championships in Maine. The Pioneers earned 659 team points, finishing more than 56 points ahead of the University of Colorado, Boulder, who claimed the second-place position. The University of New Mexico finished just a half point behind Colorado to finish third.

Denver’s Antje Maempel claimed individual titles in both of the women’s Nordic events, while the men’s Nordic titles were split between Vermont’s Juergen Uhl, who claimed the 10-kilometer classical title, and Colorado’s Vegard Kjoelhamar, who won the 20-kilometer freestyle race.

On the Alpine side, giant slalom titles were won by Lindsay Cone of St. Lawrence University and David Donaldson of the University of Vermont. Gabriel Rivas claimed the men’s slalom individual title for Colorado while Malin Hemmingsson brought the women’s title home for the University of New Mexico.