Posted: Feb 04, 2017

Huskies Host CCSA Championship Classic Races Saturday

HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams host the CCSA Championship races on their home trails this weekend. Today, the men battled in the 10K classic, followed by the women's 5K classic.

The Tech men had a competitive day in the field of 30 college racers. Tom Bye was the top finisher for the Huskies, missing the podium by one spot. He crossed the line in 4th place with a time of 29:25.8, just seconds shy from securing 3rd.

Hitting the line at 29:31.5 with a 6th place finish was Tomi Mikkonen. Gaspard Cuenot, another top performer for the Huskies finished 8th at 29:43.5. Also skiing for the Huskies were Dan Wood (14th, 31:27), David Jaszczak (17th, 31:43.6), Seth Mares (33:04.6), and Mark Wenzel (26th, 34:08.4). Northern Michigan took all three podium spots.

"Our guys really competed well today. I'm really happy with how they were skiing," said Tech head coach Joe Haggenmiller. "Tom Bye put together one of his best classic skis in a while. Tomi Mikkonen was skiing well but ran out of gas at the end. Gaspard was right up there, just a bit off of Tomi. The three of them really had some quality performances."

Carolyn Lucca was on the top again this week for the women's team, placing 8th in the college division with a time of 18:31.7. Following Lucca was teammate Sonja Hedblom who took 9th place finishing at 18:35. Lisa Koenig also had a great race, locking in a time of 18:42.7 to steal 11th place. The other women's skiers crossing the line today were Anna Kubek (17th, 19:33), Sarah Wade (20:19.6), and Erin Lipp (20:38.5). Senior Ruth Oppliger competed in her last home classic race as a Husky today, wrapping up in 27th at a time of 20:41.8.

"The women had a pretty good day," added Haggenmiller. "Northern is definitely on a different level than where we are right now. Carolyn and Sonja are competing hard and really doing well. Lisa turned in a pretty good performance and I think of the three of them were really quite competitive if you look at the rest of the field outside of Northern."

The CCSA Championships wrap-up with the freestyle races on Sunday (Feb. 5) at the Tech trails. The women race at 10 a.m. with the men starting at noon.