Bye Leads MTU in Skate Sprints at U.S. Nationals
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Michigan Tech Huskies Nordic Ski Team competed in a skate sprint competition on their second day in the field of the U.S. Nationals at Kincaid Park Friday, Jan. 5. Tom Bye led the Huskies in 24th place with a qualifying time of 3:14.82.
"It was a pristine day out at Kincaid Park; right around 15 degrees, clear day and really fast tracks," said Michigan Tech head coach Tom Smith. "It was an overall incredible course and a great event put on by the organizers with some really high-level racing."
Tom Bye was the top finisher for the men's team in 24th place overall in a field of 191 skiers. He took 5th in the U23 group with a time of 3:14.82 cracking the Men's Quarter Final Heat.
Mitch DeLong was 79th overall and finished 10th in the junior standings. DeLong cracked the Quarter Final Heat of the Junior Division while Eric Houck was Tech's third best sprint finisher on the day as 55th overall and 16th in the Junior Division.
Sarah Goble represented the MTU women's team in 31st place in a field of 146 racers and was 7th out of the U23 group.
All four athletes are now in the running to qualify for the U.S. Ski Team based on their performance in the U23 and Junior races today.
"It was fun to get to have our athletes compete in a sprint as we don't get to do that very often," said Smith. "All of our collegiate races are distance races so this was great experience for them. Overall, we are really proud of our athletes and how hard they fought, not only in their qualifier but through the heats and how well they represented our team."
The 5K, 10K, 20K and 30K classic races will be held on Sunday, Jan. 7 and will be Tech's final event of the U.S. Nationals before departing back to Houghton.