Huskies Travel to Ishpeming for NCAA Central Regionals
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski teams are set to compete in the NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships hosted at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, Michigan, on Saturday & Sunday (Feb. 25 & 26).
Saturday's event will be the skate interval start, with the women starting the 5km competition at 10 a.m. The men will compete in the 10km at 11:30 a.m. Sunday's 20km classic mass start will begin with the men's race at 9:30 a.m., while the women's race is slated for noon.
"We've raced this venue a ton so our student-athletes have a lot of experience here and we know how to ski the courses and they suit our strengths well," head coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "We're continuing to show that we're in a great place as a team and we're continuing to build through this championship season."
CCSA Conference Championships Recap
The men's squad won the Buch Riemer Cup at the CCSA Conference Championships, to pair with a runner-up combined team finish, as the women placed second behind Northern Michigan.
"It was awesome for the men's team to come away with the Buch Riemer Cup one point ahead of our rival's Northern Michigan and the conference championship that counted for us was the mass start 20km classic so it truly was a head-to-head battle making that team competition a really fun component of the weekend," Mentioned Monahan Smith. "I was really proud to see different student-athletes stepping up for the team, we had Wes Campbell have a really strong race to be our third scorer. Skylar Patten has been so consistent all year long and we can really count on him to give us those top results for us. It was awesome to see Adam Witkowski really come into the fold his senior season and we were really psyched to see him get his first podium result in the classic."
The depth of the Michigan Tech men continued to be on display at the conference championships, however, this time senior Adam Witkowski stepped up to be the highest finisher for the Huskies with his runner-up finish in the 20km classic mass start.
Three additional Tech skiers placed among the top-10 in the field to help secure the men's team victory. Junior Skylar Patten comfortably took fourth place after working his way back into the race following a crash early in the race. First year Wes Campbell, in his first conference championship as a Husky, took seventh-place, while junior Henry Snider placed ninth.
Of note, the duo of Colin Freed and Jasper Johnston placed 11th and 12th, respectively.
The women's 20km classic mass start showcased a photo finish with Houghton local Anabel Needham coming just short of being the conference champion, taking silver for her efforts. Additionally Henriette Semb and freshman Cat Stow placed fifth and ninth, respectively.
The trio of Olivia Laven, Marie Sølverud Wangen and Alice McKnight placed 12th through 14th in the event.
"The women came back with a stronger weekend and we have to give it to the Northern women who just outclassed the rest of the field. Anabel Needham has been an incredible leader for this team and was one tenth of a second from the title and she gave it everything. Cat Stow once again moved up through the field and is also still a U20 athlete and for her to show the progression that she's made this year and racing this distance so we're really psyched for her as well."
One Last Thing
Michigan Tech returns five student-athletes who will look to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year, those student-athletes being Anabel Needham, Henriette Semb, Skylar Patten, Colin Freed and Henry Snider.