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.

The Central Collegiate Ski Association is comprised of men’s and women’s teams from ten schools and is largely based in the Midwest. Of the ten, six teams are from Minnesota (the College of Saint Benedict, College of Saint Scholastica, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint John’s University, Saint Olaf College and St. Cloud State University), one from Wisconsin (the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay), two from Michigan (Michigan Tech University and Northern Michigan University) and one from Alaska (University of Alaska Fairbanks).

The 2008-9 year was largely successful within the Central Region, with contested races and relative parity throughout the league. Team results shifted from week to week, as did individual results, and although both the men and women’s teams from Northern Michigan University claimed first place in the region, no race was a foregone conclusion. Individuals from six schools qualified to represent the CCSA at NCAA’s in Rumford, Maine, to fill the conference’s allotment of 9 male and 11 female qualifiers.

It was at the NCAA races that the conference’s year took a turn for the worse. 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 11th) 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. This stretch of hardship may seem to indicate a decline in the competitiveness of the Central Region, but CCSA coaches are confident that is not the case. “We got thumped at NCAA’s last year as a region,” acknowledged University of Alaska-Fairbanks coach Scott Jerome, “and we now know what we need to do better. We all need to be better.”
Things are looking up for the region, though. Of last year’s top competitors, many have returned and still others are emerging as threats on not just regional but national levels. Four of the top five NCAA qualifiers return on the men’s side—Northern Michigan senior Martin Banerud, Michigan Tech sophomore Oskar Lund, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay senior Santiago Ocariz, and Michigan Tech senior Jesse Lang—indicating a competitive year for the CCSA men.
The women’s side is even more stacked returning for the 2009-10 campaign. The 10 women with the top qualifying points from last season all return, including 5 from a loaded Northern Michigan team, 2 from Michigan Tech, and 2 more from Alaska-Fairbanks. “There is no doubt that the CCSA is a strong region,” says St. Cloud State coach Jeremy Frost. Early season results seem to agree with him.
U.S. Nationals races in Anchorage from January 2-8 put on display the talent on both the men’s and women’s sides. NMU senior Laura Dewitt was among the top collegiate skiers in the classic race, in which she finished 16th overall. Aurelia Korthauer of Alaska-Fairbanks posted a strong result in the freestyle event at 21st to record the highest CCSA finish. NMU’s Christina Gillis, UAF’s Theresia Schnurr, and MTU newcomer Henna Riikonen-Purtsi also posted consistent and impressive results throughout competition.

The CCSA men showed up in full force. Santiago Ocariz of UW-GB was the top collegiate skier from any conference in both the classic and skate distance races with top-20 results in each. Alaska-Fairbanks may have put on display the most impressive team showing, with a 4th place finish from Tyler Kornfield in the freestyle sprint and a dominant showing in the classic sprint, with 3 of the top 5 overall finishers (Erik Soederstrom, Kornfield, and Einar Often). Consistent finishes from UAF in the distance races establishes them as a force to be reckoned with in the CCSA this season. The emergence of skiers like first-year George Cartwright of Northern Michigan is also encouraging for the region.

The teams at the top may not have changed this season—powerhouses Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, and Alaska-Fairbanks all have extremely strong teams, with UW-Green Bay at the edge of that group—but there are teams with chances to move up this season. College of St. Benedict, the College of St. Scholastica, and Gustavus Adolphus, among others, have strong crops of veteran and up-and-coming skiers to contend with the top individuals and teams. But the focus is clear for the conference as a whole this season: Race hard and competitively all season, with the goal of skiing as successfully as possible come March at the NCAA’s. “With a limited number of NCAA qualifying spots available,” Michigan Tech head coach Joe Haggenmiller declared, “I suspect our region’s skiers going to NCAAs to be a “lean and mean” crew, in that with so few qualifiers, each one should be ready to ski in the top half or better of the NCAA field, as I know we have a region that is stronger than we showed last spring.”
The entire CCSA hopes that Haggenmiller’s optimism, shared by a majority of the conference’s coaches and encouraged by a strong crew of returning and emerging skiers, will be proven true in the months to come.

Most of the CCSA programs began their seasons in December, and several attended the U.S. National Cross Country Championships Jan. 2-8 in Anchorage, Alaska. The most important regular-season events this year, however, are the four sets of NCAA qualifying races that will determine which 7 women and eight men will participate in the NCAA Championships March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. 
The qualifying races are Jan. 23-24 in Minneapolis, Minn.; Jan. 30-31 in Cable, Wisc.; Feb. 13-14 in Negaunee, Mich.; and Feb. 20-21 at the Central Region Championships in Houghton, Mich. Press releases will be distributed summarizing each of the qualifying events as well as the NCAA championships.

Below are capsule previews of each conference school.

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University of Alaska Fairbanks
College of Saint Benedict
College of Saint Scholastica
Gogebic Community College
Gustavus Adolphus College
Michigan Tech University
Northern Michigan University
Saint Cloud State University
Saint John’s University
Saint Olaf College
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Click on school logo