Huskies Ski at 41st American Birkebeiner

HAYWARD, Wis. – Michigan Tech Nordic skiers and coaches were a handful of about 10,000 who competed in the 41st American Birkebeiner on Saturday (Feb. 22). The Birkie is the largest cross country ski race in North America and dates back to 1973.

Racing began at 8 a.m. Central in single-digit temperatures. The skiers raced from near Cable, Wis., south to Hayward. The finish line was on the main street of Hayward. 3,781 skiers started the freestyle race and 1,865 were in the classic.

In the 50-kilometer freestyle, Matt Wong led the Huskies with 55th place finish in 2:39:37. You can read abouth is race experience HERE. 

Jay Woodbeck was also in the top 75 with a 68th place finish. He crossed the line in 2:42:6.

Associate head coach Andrew Joda (2:46:05) finished 96th, less than four minutes behind Woodbeck. You can read about his race experience HERE.

Sam Holmes (2:55:15) was 150th in the skate race and Sarah Daniels was the 49th female, finishing 403rd overall, with a time of 3:22:52.

In the 54K classic, Thomas Kendrick skied to a 12th place finish. He crossed the line in 3:07:41. David Joda (3:15:29) was 26th in the classic, eight minutes behind Kendrick.

"The conditions were very soft and difficult to deal with for the extremely-competitive skate race," Kendrick said. "Jay, Sarah and Matt all said they had never had such a grueling effort in a ski race. However, they were all happy with their results. David and myself dealt with much more pleasant conditions for the classic race, and skied to strong finishes as well."

Head coach Joe Haggenmiller (3:58:40) who skied in his 20th Birkie, finished 174th overall in the classic. He has placed in the top 200 every single year.

"I was able to finish and was happy about that," Haggenmiller said. "After 20 Birkies it's now time for me to retire."

Ruth Oppliger (4:47:53) rounded out Huskies in the classic. She was the 74th woman in the race and 523rd overall.

"I started in wave six of nine, so I had a lot of really slow skiers to pass and the trail conditions were quite torn up when I got through," Oppliger said. "I still had a lot of fun."

Carolyn Lucca raced in the Kortelopet Skate race, finishing as the 28th female and 107th overall. Her time of 1:41:04 was the top time in her age group.

"I thought our group did a great job representing Michigan Tech," added Haggenmiller. "The conditions were difficult, but we had some great results."