Huskies Nordic Skiing Races in Rhinelander Classic

RHINELANDER, Wis. - The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams traveled to Rhinelander, Wis. today. The men's team competed in the 10K classic race, the women raced in the 5K.

Two of the Tech women cracked the top 10, Lisa Koenig pulled off an impressive 6th place finish with a time of 16:29.28. Anna Kubek crossed the line in 10th with a time of 16.46.70. Other Huskies finishers were Carolyn Lucca (13th, 16:59.45), Ruth Oppliger (17th, 17:17.66) and Sonja Hedblom (18th, 17:25.71). 

"Lisa and Anna had a really good day. It's good to see them racing hard and picking up Carolyn and Sonja. I think they (Carolyn and Sonja) had a bit of an off day today," said Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller.

Tom Bye and Tomi Mikkonen were neck and neck to the finish for the men's race. Tom pushed past Tomi for 5th place with a time of 27:57.7. Tomi hit the line right after Tom to take 6th place with a time of 27:58.65. David Jaszczak crossed the line at 29:41.51 to claim 11th place. Teammates Daniel Wood (17th, 30:16.75) and Mark Wenzel (26th, 32:47) also completed the course.

"Tom and Tomi both had real strong races. David Jaszczak also skied well today," said Haggenmiller. "We skied classic with the kick wax. Northern had a few guys double poling the course. It was interesting," added Haggenmiller, "but I don't think it affected the race results. Overall, I thought the volunteers and the race organization did a nice job and put together a fun course to race on."

The Huskies will travel to Marquette, Mich. for the NCAA Central Region Skiing Championships next Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 18-19.