Men of Michigan Tech Win Butch Reimer Cup at CCSA Conference Championships
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Michigan Tech men's Nordic Ski team won the Butch Reimer Cup to take the men's title in the CCSA Conference Championships by one point at the Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, over the weekend.
Overall, Michigan Tech took second place in the team standings behind Northern Michigan. The women took second place with 127 points behind Northern Michigan's 134 points. The Huskies and Wildcats battled in the men's standings as well, with Michigan Tech getting the one point nod, with 65 points to Northern Michigan's 64.
"We're so proud of the guys, they've really shown they were the best team week in and week out and they raced insanely well as a team," head coach Tom Monahan Smith and assistant coach Kristen Monahan Smith said. "We continue to have different guys in the mix with Adam Witkowski having his best classic race of the season, Skylar Patten had an unfortunate crash early but got back into the scoring to take fourth overall and we have to give a huge shoutout to Wes Campbell who came up big for the team today, because we only won by one point beating Northern Michigan."
Freestyle Sprint
Senior Anabel Needham highlighted the women's freestyle sprint, making it to the semifinals, taking fifth in the heat (3:03.97). Her performance landed her second on the CCSA Podium, with teammate Marie Sølverud Wangen taking second in the quarterfinals and taking third in the conference race to earn the final podium spot.
Additionally, sophomore Alice McKnight made her way out of the qualifying round finishing 27th overall.
In the men's freestyle sprint on Saturday, Jasper Johnston raced his way through the qualifiers before bowing out in the quarter finals, good enough for sixth among the conference competition.
Joining Johnston in the quarterfinals were Cedric Keller, Yanik Pauchard, Adam Witkowski and Skylar Patten.
Classic Mass Start
Senior Adam Witkowski showcased his versatility being the first Husky through the finish in the 20km mass start, making the podium following a runner-up finish (52.56.0).
The men of Michigan Tech continued to prove their depth in the longer distance race, with three additional Huskies among the top-10.
Junior Skylar Patten was just outside the podium with a fourth-place finish (53:14.8) almost fifty seconds ahead of the next skier. Freshman Wes Campbell claimed seventh (54:16.8) while junior Henry Snider rounded out Huskies within the top-10 finishers taking ninth-place, respectively (54:34.2).
Just outside of the top-10 were Minnesota native's Colin Freed and Jasper Johnston, who finished in 11th and 12th place.
It came down to the final lap in the women's 20km classic mass start as the battle for gold five laps in the making. Senior Anabel Needham was shy of winning the event after an absolute grind with Northern Michigan's Katerina Hyncicova, who fought off Needham to the finish line to secure the victory by the closest of margins.
Henriette Semb skied to a fifth-place finish in the event, joined in the top-10 by freshman Cat Stow, who placed ninth.
Olivia Laven, Marie Sølverud Wangen and Alice McKnight placed 12th through 14th, respectively.
"Anabel did an amazing job leading it for the team today in a super competitive SuperTour field," Monahan Smith mentioned. "She had a sprint finish and we couldn't be more proud of her for how she raced and she is in an amazing spot. It was awesome to see Henriette Semb have a good weekend and put together a solid race to get fifth in the CCSA and second scorer for our women. Cat climbed through the rankings and was a strong third finish for us."
Marie and Alice really fought hard in that field and worked really well together which was awesome to see and it was definitely a big step in the right direction for the women."
Head coach Monahan Smith was also pleased with the coaching staff and there endeavors on the weekend.
"We had a really well supported coaching staff this weekend who go above and beyond for the student-athletes and I want to thank them along with our fans and alumni who showed up to cheer on our Huskies," Monahan Smith added.
Overall team standings
Team | D1F | D1M | D2F | D2M | Total
NMU | 070 | 064 | 000 | 000 | 134
MTU | 062 | 065 | 000 | 000 | 127
CSS | 049 | 057 | 000 | 000 | 106
UWGB | 017 | 027 | 000 | 000 | 044
SCSU | 010 | 000 | 000 | 000 | 010
Up Next
The Huskies keep the postseason rolling, heading to Ishpeming, Michigan, for the NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 25-26).