Saint Olaf College Oles
Location: Northfield, Minn.
Head coach: Mark Skildum (4th season)
Top male returners: Tom Jorgenson, Brandon Piechowski
Top female returners: Paige Schember, Sarah Fleming, Emma Lee
Website: www.stolaf.edu/athletics
2011 CCSA Championships: Men – 7th, Women – 5th
2010 NCAA Central Region: Men – 8th, Women – 9th

It’s safe to say that no one is overlooking the St. Olaf Oles going into this CCSA season.

Always a dark horse in the CCSA, St. Olaf boasts a roster full of talented skiers, making them legitimate contenders in any competition they enter this season.

For the men, St. Olaf will again look to Tom Jorgenson for leadership. Jorgenson finished as the CCSA’s 20th-ranked skier a year ago. Among his highlights from the last campaign include an 8th-place finish at the CCSA Championship classic race.

The team also returns Brandon Piechowski, who landed an impressive 17th-place result in the regional classic race and finished last season among the conference’s top 30 skiers as well.

On the women’s side, the Oles are led by junior Paige Schember, a second-team all-CCSA skier in 2011. Schember, who finished last season as the conference’s 14th-ranked skier on the women’s side, has hit the ground running in preseason as well, taking 10th-place overall in the 10K classic and 12th place in the freestyle event, proving that she deserves to be mentioned among the CCSA elite.

Teammate Sarah Fleming also turned in an impressive showing at the Wolverine Ski Challenge, taking 34th in the classic and 49th in the skate, proving she is back to her best after redshirting last season. The Oles also return Hillary Boyce, who took 23rd in the classic race at the CCSA Championships last February – an event that saw Schember finish 11th as well.