Two Montana State Skiers Earn All America Honors as Bobcats Move into 8th at the Half-Way Mark of the NCAA Championships.

Kaelin Kiesel and Bernhard Roenning each earn All America honors on Thursday at the 2010 NCAA Skiing Championships.

Two Montana State Skiers Earn All America Honors as Bobcats Move into 8th at the Half-Way Mark of the NCAA Championships.

3/11/2010 2:33:36 PM | Men's Skiing, Women's Skiing

The Montana State Nordic team turned heads at the 2010 NCAA Skiing Championships as two Bobcats garnered All America honors as MSU posted its best performance of the season, Thursday at the Howelsen Hill Ski Area.

By: Tom Schulz

2010 NCAA Results - Day 2 (pdf)

Junior Kaelin Kiesel became the first Montana State female skier to earn First-Team All America kudos since Marianne Magnus pulled the feat during the 2001 campaign. Kiesel, a native of Ketchum, Idaho finished 5^th in the women's five-kilometer classic race in a time of 17:11.8.

On the men's side, Bernhard Roenning captured Second-Team All America accolades after finishing 6^th overall in the 10K event in a clocking of 30:01.6. Roenning became MSU's first male All American since Trong Solvang won the honor during the 1981 season.

“Heading into the races both Kaelin and Bernhard were ranked in the upper middle of the pack,” said MSU head coach Dan Brelsford. “They got out to a great start and really pushed the pace. At one point, they were among the top three, right up until the end. Both had outstanding performances.”

Also contributing for the Bobcat women were Casey Kutz, 16^th, 17:42.9; and Mellie Park, 39^th, 20:23.1

Denver's Antje Maempel won the women's title in 16:03.4.

Roenning was followed in the men's race by teammates Ryan Scott, 14^th, 30:41.0; and Tyler Reinking, 35^th, 32:13.3.

Colorado's Matt Gelso won the men's individual crown in 29:25.5.

As a combined squad, the Bobcats notched 130 points, which was the fourth most productive showing on Thursday behind national powers Colorado (208), Denver (181) and New Mexico (146).

“This was definitely one of the best days we've had at Montana State in recent memory,” Brelsford. “This is good stuff. I'm really excited for our program. Our goal coming in was a top ten finish, and we're ahead of that expectation at the half-way mark.”

Behind its strong Nordic performance, the Bobcats moved into 8^th place in the team standings. MSU was sitting in tenth following the first day.

Denver held on to the top spot after four events with 420 points. The Pioneers are followed in the top ten by Colorado 351, New Mexico 319, Utah 300.5, Vermont 287.5, Dartmouth 275, Alaska-Anchorage 233, MSU 185, New Hampshire 155, and Middlebury 137.5

The men's and women's slalom events will be held Saturday.

NCAA Championship Team Scores (4 of 8 events)-1. Denver 420; 2. Colorado 351; 3. New Mexico 319; 4. Utah 300.5; 5. Vermont 287.5; 6. Dartmouth 275; 7. Alaska-Anchorage 233; 8. Montana State 185; 9. New Hampshire 155; 10. Middlebury 137.5; 11. Nevada 126; 12. Northern Michigan 88; 13. Alaska-Fairbanks 87; 14. Williams 73; 15. Colby 66.5; 16. Bates 52; 17. Wisconsin-Green Bay 35; 18. St. Lawrence 32, 19. Michigan Tech 23, 20. Wellesley 10; 21 (tie). St. Michael's and Gustavus Adolphus 6.

Women's 5-Kilometer Classic-1. Antje Maempel, DU, 16:03.4; 2. Rosie Brennan, DAR, 16:50.1; 3. Mari Elden, DU, 17:07.1; 4. Joanne Reid, CU, 17:09.9; 5. Kaelin Kiesel, MSU, 17:11.8; 6. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 17:14.3; 7. Eliska Hajkova, CU, 17:17.4; 8. Laura DeWitt, NMU, 17:19.4; 9. Caitlin Patterson, UVM, 17:25.6; 10. Maria Graefnings, UN, 17:25.8; 11. Aurelia Korthauer, UAF, 17:30.3; 12. Laura Rombach, UAA, 17:37.0; 13. Kate Dolan, DU, 17:38.5; 14. Stephanie Hiemer, UAA, 17:38.9; 15.Theresia Schnurr, UAF, 17:42.5; 16. Casey Kutz, MSU, 17:42.9; 17. Katie Bono, DAR, 17:58.5; 18. Natalie Ruppertsberger, BAT, 18:02.4; 19. Alexa Turzian, CU, 18:10.4; 20. Ida Sargent, DAR, 18:15.6; 21. Natasha Kullas. UNH, 18:18.9; 22. Kristin Ronnestrand, UN, 18:23.5; 23. Jennie Bender, UVM, 18:27.4; 24. Monica Marksvarden, NMU, 18:27.5; 25. Jaime Bronga, UAA, 18:41.5; 26. Caitlin Curran, UVM, 18:44.9; 27. Zoe Roy, UU, 18:48.0; 28. Henna Riikonen-Purtsi, MTU, 19:00.9; 29. Lucy Garrec, CBC, 19:21.4; 30. Claire Egan, WC, 19:22.3; 31. Lauren Fritz, MID, 19:22.9; 32. Carolyn Freeman, UWG, 19:29.2; 33. Lnn Klaesson, UNM, 19:34.9; 34. Rose Kemp, UU, 19:36.3; 35. Sarah MacCarthy, UU, 19:38.6; 36. Alice Nelson, WIL, 19:40.1; 37. Christina Gillis, NMU, 19:44.0; 38. Anya Bean, UNH, 20:19.3; 39. Mellie Park, MSU, 20:23.1.

Men's 10-kilometer Classic-1. Matt Gelso, CU, 29:25.5; 2. Franz Bernstein, UVM, 29:49.7; 3. Charlie Smith, UN, 29:54.0; 4. Vegard Kjoelhamar, CU, 29:54.5; 5. Martin Kaas, UNM, 29:57.1; 6. Bernhard Roenning, MSU, 30:01.6; 7. Pierre Niess, UNM, 30:03.6; 8. Miles Havlick, UU, 30:09.3; 9. Michael Schallinger, UAA, 30:11.0; 10. Dylan McGuffin, UNH, 30:17.9; 11. Patrick Johnson, MID, 30:32.2; 12. Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, UNM, 30:38.0; 13. Santiago Ocariz, UWG, 30:40.0; 14. Ryan Scott, MSU, 30:41.0; 15. Dimitri Luthi, WIL, 30:41.9; 16. Martin Liljemark, UU, 30:47.1; 17. Didrik Smith, UU, 30:47.4; 18. Kristian Soerlund, DU, 30:47.4; 19. Andrew Dougherty, DU, 30:49.1; 20. Jesper Ostensen, CU, 30:49.8; 21. Lex Treinen, UAA, 30:49.9; 22. John Parry, UAF, 30:52.7; 23. Harald Loevenskiold, DU, 30:59.2; 24. Patrick O'Brien, DAR, 30:59.5; 25. Tyler Kornfield, UAF, 31:00.0; 26. Kevin Cutts, NMU, 31:01.1; 27. Nils Koons, DAR, 31:01.3; 28. George Cartwright, NMU, 31:16.1; 29. Oskar Lund, MTU, 31:22.8; 30. Chris Bowler, NMU, 31:24.2; 31. Elias Bucher, UN, 31:24.7; 32. Eric Packer, DAR, 31:42.2; 33. Benjamin Knowles, SLU, 31:55.1; 34. Jens Brabbit, GAC, 31:57.6; 35. Tyler Reinking, MSU, 32:13.3; 36. Wyatt Fereday, CBC, 32:24.1; 37. Tor Christopherson, UAA, 32:24.3; 38. Eric Wolcott, SLU, 32:32.8; 39. Zachary Wetherell, SLU, 32:58.4.