Montana State University freshman Marianne Magnus finished fifth
overall in the women's five-kilometer classic race at the 2001
NCAA Skiing Championships hosted by Middlebury College, Wednesday
morning.
Magnus, a native of Oslo, Norway, completed the course in a time
of 16:32.3. By virtue of her top ten finish, Magnus earned
All-America status. Her finish is the highest for a Bobcat at the
NCAA Championship meet since the program was resurrected in 1994.
Katerina Hanusova of the University of Nevada captured the
classic title in a time of 15:59.4.
"It was a great race," said MSU nordic coach Greg Johnson. "It
was very close with only six-seconds separating the No. 2-5
finishers. Marianne (Magnus) was right in the thick of things and
really gained time in the last two-kilometers, especially on the
last up-hill. It feels awesome to get our first All-America
performer on the nordic side."
Also competing for the Bobcats in the classic event was freshman
Maria Kalnaes, who finished 24th overall in a time of 17:24.3.
"We had two to three feet of snow dump on Middlebury from the big
storm," Johnson said. "However, the race went off under excellent
conditions."
As a team, Montana State sits in 11th place with 51 points, which
is a high finish considering that the Bobcats do not factor in a
men's team score. Denver leads after the first day of the NCAA
Championships with 201 points, while Northern Michigan 185, Utah
145, Dartmouth 128, Colorado 122, Vermont 114, New Mexico 112,
Nevada 95, Alaska-Anchorage 82, Middlebury 76, MSU, Williams 39,
New Hampshire 38, Alaska-Fairbanks 37 and Michigan Tech 27, round
out the top 15 teams.
The alpine giant slalom race will be held on Thursday, featuring
Montana State junior Suzan Dole, who has qualified for her third
consecutive NCAA Championships.
