Nordic Ski Team Hosts UP Opener at the Tech Trails Play Video
Posted: Dec 10, 2017

Nordic Ski Team Hosts UP Opener at the Tech Trails

HOUGHTON, Mich. - The Michigan Tech men's and women's Nordic Skiing teams competed in the UP Opener held at the Tech Trails Sunday. The Tech men took part in a 15K classic race while the women participated in a 10K classic race.

"Our first official competition of the 2017-18 Nordic ski season is now in the books," said Michigan Tech head coach Tom Smith. "The UP Opener was originally scheduled to be hosted by Northern Michigan University, however with an awesome lake effect snow storm that hit the Keweenaw Peninsula last week, and a lack of snow in the Marquette area, we made a mad dash to host these races at our Michigan Tech Trails. 

"We couldn't have had better race conditions today. We had amazing tracks thanks to our grooming staff that did an incredible job, and were able to use our NCAA 5K competition course that was a huge advantage for everyone that was here to race today as we'll be racing this same course next week in our MTU CXC Cup races."  

Amanda Kautzer was the Tech women's top finisher at the UP Opener, finishing in 7th place out of 22 racers. Kautzer crossed the line at 38:13.85 followed by Sarah Goble in 10th place. Goble, just a few seconds behind, finished with a time of 38:29.57 and Erin Lipp earned 18th overall with a time of 42:34.36.

A pack of four Northern Michigan skiiers were the women's top finishers. Kristen Bourne took first place with a time of 35:43.07 followed by Vivian Hett (2nd, 36:12.49). No team scores were kept for Sunday's races. 

Gaspard Cuenot and Reid Goble both had strong showings from the men's team, cracking the top 10 in the Opener. Cuenot hit the line with a time of 47:47.18 to take 6th place in the field of 37 racers. Goble finished 8th overall with a time of 49:03.11. 

Zak Ketterson of NMU earned first place with his leading time of 45:30:59. 

Seven other Black and Gold finished amongst the top 20; Daniel Wood (11th, 49:49.33), Mitch DeLong (12th, 49:53.86), Patrick Acton (13th, 50:05.56), Olav Vestol (15th, 50:30.19), Aiden Truettner (16th, 50:43.34), Somer Schrock (19th, 51:10.05) and Mark Ousdigian (20th, 51:16.10).

"Today was an all-around good day for our MTU Nordic Ski Team," added Smtih. "With nearly all of the CCSA teams in representation here for the UP Opener, today's race was a good gauge of where we are at competitively compared to our NCAA Central Region competition as we head in to the NCAA qualifying period." 

Next weekend, Dec. 16-17, Tech will host the MTU CXC Cup, FIS Open, and Alumni Open races at the Tech Trails and the Nordic ski team will also be holding their Houghton Engagement Event in conjunction with the scheduled races. 

The race will feature the best junior athletes in the entire Midwest and Great Lakes Regions, a full CCSA representation of collegiate teams, as well as an opportunity for all citizens to race in the Alumni Open race. You can find more information HERE. 

As part of the engagement event, the team will be hosting a social at the Continental Fire Company gastropub in downtown Houghton on Saturday evening, Dec. 16th. All are encouraged to join the team for one or both of the events. Register HERE for the events.