Huskies Nordic Skiing Opens MTU CCSA Races Saturday
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Huskies Nordic Ski Team raced in the MTU CCSA Races on the Tech Trails Saturday morning. Tech's Tom Bye and Gaspard Cuenot both earned top spots in the men's 10K individual classic race and Amanda Kautzer of the women's team stepped up with a top performance, leading the women's team in 7th place.
"Both our women's and men's Nordic teams represented Michigan Tech well today on our home courses for our MTU CCSA classic individual start distance races," said head coach Tom Smith. "The Tech Trails grooming staff, our amazing race organizing committee and volunteers put on a world class race today. Their support continues to not only impress, but drive us as a team to really be thankful and proud to have the opportunity to represent the Michigan Tech Nordic Ski Team."
Four Huskies pushed their way into the top 10 in the men's race in the field of 38 college athletes. Tom Bye took the lead in 3rd place overall with a solid time of 30 minutes and 53 seconds. Gaspard Cuenot followed closely behind, hitting the line at a time of 30:56.2 for 5th place.
Freshmen leaders, Reid Goble (7th, 31:21.2) and Mitch DeLong (10th, 32:17) finished with strong performances, cracking the top 10. Daniel Wood (13th, 32:33.7), Olav Vestol (14th, 32:35.9), David Jaszczak (17th, 32:43.7), Patrick Acton (18th, 32:57.3) and Mark Ousdigian (19th, 32:59.5) were all recognized amongst the top 20.
"Our Michigan Tech men continue to have a fun team rivalry with the Northern Michigan University men, which only will continue to help us get stronger as a region within the CCSA," said Smith. "It's great to have both Tom and Gaspard leading this team with their solid individual performances, as well as freshmen Reid and Mitch consistently competing with the best skiers in our region. With four men in the top 10 and nine men in the top 20 on the day, it truly speaks to the solid overall depth of this men's team."
Amanda Kautzer placed 7th in the field of 32 racers in the women's 5K classic competition. Kautzer pushed hard in the last stretch to finish with a time of 18:36.9. Sarah Goble finished a few seconds behind Kautzer to earn 8th place with a time of 18:42.4. Erin Lipp finished 19th with a time of 19:59.7.
"We were especially happy to see Amanda have her strongest result of the season so far, having one of the fastest last kilometers within the entire women's field to earn the top position for our women's team today," Smith added. "With only three women on our active roster this season, we are so impressed with this entire women's team on being able to have consistent competitive performances every race."
The Huskies will wrap up the weekend's events tomorrow, Sunday Feb. 4, in the skate mass start races. The women's race will open at 9:30 am at the Tech Trails.