Huskies Takeover The Podium in Sunday’s Skate Race
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski Team wrapped up their final event of the MTU CCSA races Sunday, Feb. 4 with the men's 20K freestyle race and the women's 15K event. With the brisk cold and slower ski conditions, the Huskies persevered to battle for top finishes.
"This was one of our strongest weekends yet," said head coach Tom Smith. "Our team just continues to impress us every week in their ability to come back each weekend and have such great results."
Gaspard Cuenot battled his way to a 1st place finish in the men's 20K skate race. Cuenot finished with a time of 59:43.4 and set the pace for his teammates.
The Black and Gold freshmen had solid performances with Mitch DeLong finishing in 3rd place with a time of 59:57.1 and Patrick Acton in 4th place with a time of 59:58.3.
Three other Tech men's skiers ranked in the top 10; Daniel Wood (6th, 1:00:19.1), Tom Bye (8th, 1:01:12.7) and Reid Goble (9th, 1:01:13.1).
"It's been awesome to watch our freshmen men be able to step up to the plate and to have absolutely no fear when skiing with the best skiers in the region," said Smith. "It's also great to see a few of our older skiers take these guys under their wing."
MTU freshman Sarah Goble shined with a 4th place finish. Goble, a leader on the women's team, pushed through the distance race to hit the line at 54:51.3. Goble was only a second behind the 3rd place finisher, Kristen Bourne of Northern Michigan.
In a field of 30 female skiers, Amanda Kautzer crossed the finish line at 56:35.9, to take 6th place. Teammate Erin Lipp cracked the line with a time of 59:33.9 and was 12th on the day.
"It's been great to watch Amanda Kautzer really step it up this weekend," added Smith. "It's been cool to see not only the younger student-athletes on the team perform well, but to watch different people on the men's and women's team step it up each race."
The MTU Nordic ski team will be back on the road next weekend Feb. 8-9 at the CCSA Conference Championship races in Rhinelander, Wis. on the Cavoc Trails. The Huskies will compete in a 5/10K classic race Saturday and a 15/20K freestyle race Sunday.
