Koenig Leads Huskies in Classic at Mt. Itasca

COLERAINE, Minn. – Lisa Koenig had the best finish of the day for the Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams at the Mt. Itasca CCSA Invite. Koenig placed third in the women's 5-kilometer classic race, only 10 seconds behind the top skier, with a time of 16:18.7.

"Lisa had an exciting race," Tech coach Joe Haggenmiler said. "The women's race was really tight and everyone skied very hard today in some snowy conditions."

Ulrika Axelsson (16:24.9) was also in the top 10, finishing ninth overall. Alice Flanders (11th/16:33), Deedra Irwin (14th/16:47.1) and Lynn Duijndam (15th/16:49.1) rounded out Huskies in the top 20, while Rachel Mason (21st), Sarah Daniels (23rd) and Ruth Oppliger (32nd) also skied for Tech.

The women finished third in a seven-team field as Koenig, Axelsson and Flanders scored for the Huskies.

The men also finished third in the 10K classic. Matt Wong led a group of three Huskies who finished in the top 10. Wong was sixth overall with a time of 27:40.8. Jay Woodbeck (8th/28:07.6) and Kyle Hanson (10th/28:13.5) also scored for the Black and Gold.

"I thought our top three skiers on the men's side really competed hard and skied well today," added Haggenmiller. "Sam Holmes also had himself a decent day."

Matt Dugan (16th/28:49.6), Raphael Bechtiger (29:14.9), Sam Holmes (24th/29:29.6) and David Joda (29th/29:36.5) rounded out Tech skiers on the men's side.

The Huskies wrap up the weekend on Saturday (Jan. 25) with the freestyle races.