Final tune-up completed, Cardinals'
focus is getting healthy for MIAC

WINONA, Minn. — It wasn't exactly what coach Kelly Skillicorn was hoping for as her Saint Mary's University nordic ski teams competed in their final meets before the upcoming MIAC Championships.

For the second straight meet, the Cardinal women's team was at less than full strength. In fact, Reghann LaFrance (Duluth, Minn.) was a team of one as both Missy Mollick (Hastings, Minn.) and Amy Henjum (Woodbury, Minn.) were out of the lineup due to illness.

"It's tough to compete when you've only got one skier healthy enough to ski," admitted Skillicorn, whose women's team — LaFrance — didn't even compete in the freestyle race, while clocking a time of 23:35.9 in the 5-kilometer classical race. "Right now we've got to focus on getting healthy and making sure that we are at full strength for the conference championships (Feb. 17-18 in Winona)."

Garrick Holey (Mounds View, Minn.) turned in a pair of solid performances in leading the Cardinal men's team to eighth-place finishes in both the 15K freestyle race and the 10K classic race. The sophomore posted a time of 45:28.9 in the freestyle, while adding another team-best with his 35:26.5 in the classic.

Mike Uffenbeck (Cable, Wis.) and Pete Schweich (Red Wing, Minn.) also skied well, with Uffenbeck clocking times of 50:50.3 and 37:05.1 in the freestyle and classic, respectively, while Schweich's times were 51:01.4 and 36:53.7.