The College of Saint Benedict Nordic ski team traveled to Cable, WI this weekend to take part in the 36th Annual American Birkebeiner. 7,461 skiers took part in this 54 or 23 kilometer race from Cable to Hayward, the second largest participation ever recorded for the event.
Racing in the 54k event the Blazers own junior Katelyn Engel (Plymouth, MN, Wayzata) won her 18-24 age group with a blazing time of 3:58:18.3. Engle was followed by first-year Kelly Donahue (Plymouth, MN, Wayzata), senior Maggie Donahue (Plymouth, MN, Wayzata), first-year Taylor Ellison (Carlos, MN, Jefferson) and senior Makenzie Wright (Wayzata, MN, Wayzata). K.Donahue finished third with and overall time of 4:09:07.5 while sister M.Donahue finished just .3 seconds behind her at 4:09:07.8. Ellison's time of 4:13:46.1 left her in fifth place while Wright finished sixth with a finishing time of 4:19:43.5.
In the 23K Korte Freestyle junior Christi Nowak (Dayton, MN, Rogers) finished a very impressive third overall at 1:13:42.4. Junior Anna Roessler (Grand Rapids, MN, Grand Rapids) finished in eight place with a time of 1:18:30.2. First-year Shannon McEvoy (Bloomington, MN, Jefferson) finished the race fourth in her age group and 18th overall with a time of 1:25:07.3.
To visit the American Birkebeiner website click here
To see race results click here