The Saint John's Nordic ski team returns to action this Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 23-24, at the National Qualifier No. 2. The men's races will be held at Minneapolis' Theodore Wirth Park.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's finished fourth out of five teams at the Minnesota College Relays on Sunday, Jan. 17, in Collegeville. Alaska-Fairbanks won the paired-relay meet with 19 points, followed by Gustavus Adolphus and St. Scholastica with 11, SJU (8) and St. Olaf (6). The sophomore tandem of Grant Cook (Duluth, Minn./East) and Bob Gerten (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./St. Thomas Academy) finished fifth overall with a time of 1:03.33. Alaska-Fairbanks' Ray Sabo and Henri Soom won the race with a time of 1:01.32, good for 10 team points.  Senior Trevor Drake (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and junior Jared Sundstrom (Proctor, Minn.) claimed 10th place with a time of 1:06.11, while freshmen Andrew Johnson (St. Louis Park, Minn.) and Charlie Ward (Falcon Heights, Minn./Roseville Area) finished 17th (1:12.15). Sophomores Tony Nowak (Dayton, Minn./Rogers) and Matt Palmquist (Carlton, Minn./Cloquet), and freshman Ryan Lesch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and senior Kevin Neal (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) finished a close 21st (1:18.10) and 22nd (1:18.11), respectively.