Hjelstuen Earns CCSA Skier of the Week Honors

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Michigan Tech's Haakon Hjelstuen has been named the CCSA Skier of the Week for his performance at the Twin Cities Championships on Jan. 24-25 at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.

Hjelstuen, an exchange student at Michigan Tech from NTNU in Trondheim, Norway, had an excellent weekend, notching his first CCSA victory in the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race. Hjelstuen's victory came the day after he made a bold attempt to win the men's 15 kilometer classic mass start race by double poling the entire race on skate skis. Hjelstuen was hampered in that attempt by losing the baskets of both his poles, forcing him to change poles several times during the race. Nevertheless, he managed to ski to fourth place.

The Michigan Tech Nordic skiing teams are scheduled to continue racing on Feb. 7-8 at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, Minnesota.