Nordic Skiing Announces Team Award Recipients
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic ski team recently distributed its annual team awards at its potluck banquet at the coaches' home. Anabel Needham and Skylar Patten were named the Most Outstanding Skiers. This is the third-consecutive season Needham has earned this honor and Patten's second-straight season. Additionally, head coach Tom Monahan Smith was named CCSA Men's Coach of the Year and CCSA Co-Women's Coach of the Year.
The Huskies placed ninth at the NCAA Skiing Championships as the only central region team to qualify a full team along with the top central team finish at the NCAA Championships highlighted by Anabel Needham's All-American eighth-place finish in the 5km skate.
Tech combined team champions at the NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships with 11 All-Region finishes, five podium team finishes and an individual Regional Champion in the 10km skate.
The men's team won the Butch Riemer Cup for the first time in program history while 10 Huskies were named to the All-CCSA Teams.
Team Award Recipients:
Most Outstanding Skier Award:
Anabel came in off of a longer than normal running season where she competed in the regional championships in late November to then jump right back into competing 3 weeks later in the season opener in Duluth - she opened her season with a win in the sprint race and a 3rd place in the classic race. 1st & 2nd in all CCSA classic races, 1st, 2nd & a 3rd in all CCSA skate races - never off the podium in the regular season! Qualified for world University games, skied really well at University games and got some great experiences for NCAA's. Qualified for U23 World Ski Championships at US Nats & was able to compete in both WUG & U23s! Improved on U23 WC results from last year and also got a sweet Culvers shout out on the live stream! 1st team ALL CCSA. 8th place all American finish in the skate race after a long season of racing! Not an easy task, the women's field was stacked - it was exciting, her close in races is phenomenal and I knew she was going to secure a top 10 position when I saw her go by me. It's almost like you think she has dug as deep as she could and then there is always something more she has to give. She is a fierce racer & really races from the heart and for her team. She never sweats the small stuff, and this is an important quality to have competing with the very best! Not only an outstanding skier, an all around outstanding person in all aspects and we are super lucky to have this local legend on our team!
Skylar led the team every weekend this season! We have one of the deepest men's teams in the entire country, and to have a team as deeply successful as ours requires incredible leadership from the top. Skylar has been that leader for this team week in and week out throughout the entire season! He is an exemplary leader beyond his truly outstanding results. This year he showed incredible resiliency persevering through health adversities. He has an innate ability to create an indomitable positive competitive mindset, and he is admired by all for remaining a humble and grateful person and teammate through all of his achievements! Result highlights on the season include 3rd place in the 10km Skate at US Cross Country Ski National Championships, representing Team USA at OPA Cup Finals, winning every CCSA skate race this season, and posting the top CCSA men's performance at NCAA Champs with his 14th place finish in the 10km skate race.
Most Improved Skier Award:
Alice had some pretty big setbacks from last spring through this Fall, stayed positive, trusted the process & really came out stronger, learning a lot from each set back which helped her grow into a stronger skier & person all around. She went from 19th in CCSA season rankings in 2021-22 to 15th this year in a deeper womens field! Her best results in classic: 11th (3rd girl scoring on that day) in her fist ever 32K classic race at Seeley Hills, & 12th in 10k skate best skate race result at championship event at US CCC. She made huge technique improvements, huge training improvements, being able to train smart and know what she needed for her personal development, and being a young student-athlete and ability to compete in those longer distance classic races was so awesome to see. She was consistent through the season and she really had to be on every weekend with a slim women's team & we needed her to ski well each race weekend.
Adam had a truly outstanding entire season, and such an incredible senior season to finish his student-athlete career at Michigan Tech! Results highlights include: 1st team All CCSA with 4th place regional season ranking – 10 place improvement from previous season best, competing for USA in the Livigno World Cup, qualifying 1st SK Sp US CCC, competing for Team USA and Michigan Tech in the World University Games, qualifying and representing Michigan Tech at NCAA Skiing Champs, 2x 2nd place finishes and 3x top 5 CCSA finishes – all best results of his CCSA career!
The difference maker this season for Adam was the confidence and poise he possessed in believing he belonged, that he is one of the best athletes in the CCSA, NCAA and world!
Scholastic Achievement Award:
Henriette received a 4.0 in the fall semester & 3.96 cumulative GPA graduating with a 4 year degree in Engineering Management. She Comes from a different country, so the learning and teaching is different, there is a lot to adapt to, especially in your first year as a student-athlete. She is incredibly hard working, detailed and goal oriented, it is not an easy task to be a student-athlete at Michigan Tech and Henriette has done an outstanding job over these last 4 years. She is Incredibly determined and so driven to do her best in all that she does. She really excels in all that she does, from halloween costumes, to baking and cooking, to knitting the perfect boot covers for her freezing cold coach, through her academics & athletics achievements, we know her determination in life will allow her to reach her goals in anything that she does.
Cedric Keller & Adam Witkowski
Cédric & Adam are two seniors, who both had incredible academic tenures at MTU. They have 3.91 & 3.93 cumulative GPAs! Both were US Collegiate Ski Coaches Association Academic All Americans for all 4 years while maintaining a cumulative GPA over 3.5 every semester at Michigan Tech! They also show great investment in their academics beyond GPA, leading MTU Enterprise, and forging lasting relationships with their professors beyond the classroom. One amazing example is a professor like Roger Woods, who was the starter at nearly every MTU Nordic race event at the Tech Trails throughout these student-athletes' tenure!
Harold Meese Sportsmanship Award:
*Harold Meese was a longtime Dean of Students at Michigan Tech. He had a close working relationship with the athletic department and was viewed by many student-athletes as a "father figure." All MTU Athletic Teams award team sportsmanship in Harold's name to honor his service to MTU Athletics.
Her decisions are always made with the team in mind, in this individual sport that can be a hard thing to do. Anabel is a positive leader for this team and leads by example with her actions day in and day out. Her everyday actions have led to a huge impact on the team we have today. She has been a key contributor to helping shape our team culture into what it is today.
Here are just a few examples of those day in and day out actions:
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CHEERING! No matter what her result is, you can always count on Anabel to be there for you, cheering her heart out for you!
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A great example of this was her sophomore year for our alumni & friends race, we have never been cheered for with so much passion, you could feel it - her cheering not only motivates you but you feel how much she means it
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the tides started changing when she was showing support for not only her teammates but her coaches, when she didn't have to be there. She has been a great leader in this capacity as her teammates have joined her and we have no doubts in our mind that everyone is going to be out there waving flags, wearing husky hats, and screaming until their voices are gone
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She has great ability to find positives in all situations, even with the toughest races she will always be the first person to tell me what is good first.
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Anabel is always there to help, whether it's cleaning up the wax room, helping with set up/tear down, helping you get your warm ups on after a race, she is there for her whole team
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Every single race I have watched Anabel ski this year she has stayed and congratulated every skier who she races with, these small gestures make the greatest impact on people, and I know they will remember Anabel for her kindness
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Thanking volunteers and organizers
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When you go on a ski with Anabel there is no doubt that she is going to greet everyone who crosses her path with a huge smile and a friendly hello
The team has changed in a lot of big ways since the coaching staff's first couple years & Anabel's freshman year, and she is a huge reason for that, and that is why we are honoring her with the Harold Meese Sportsmanship Award. Thanks for all that you do for this team.
There is no more deserving man on our team to give this team service award to than Will! He made the transition from athlete to coach this year, and as a true freshman in his first year as a coach, he stepped up in every way possible! Will is the best worker, always taking initiative to help the team. He exudes passion, simply loves to ski and has a genuine knack for coaching! He is incredibly professional, considerate, mature, and selfless, and he just loves this team and you can see it through the true friendships he has with every team member how much they all truly care about him! Sportsmanship on a team is about putting the team first, and no one represents this endearing quality more than Will!
Team Husky Award:
*New team award added this 2022-23 season. Named after "team dogs" in sled dog terms, this award goes to a team member that embodies the team spirit and is a key contributor to team performance & success.
Cat not only showed a strong sense of team spirit but was a key contributor to our CCSA team scores throughout the season. She was a key contributor in scoring for the team at the Seeley Hills Classic, the Duluth invite, & CCSA Conference Championships. She finished 2nd team All CCSA. At the Duluth Invite she finished 4th overall just a few seconds off the podium in her freshman season. Cat was always able to take away the positives from each race she competed in, no matter how tough they were. At US Nationals she crashed and broke her pole and ski, but she was able to get past this major setback and comeback the next day and qualify in the senior skate heats, she finished 3rd junior on the day. She has a great ability to make things light and a little silly when the pressure is on, or things get tough. Cat loves to have a good time and laugh and you really need those personalities in sport. We really admire Cats ability to move past a tough day and not let it get to her. She's a team player, a team dog, with a lot of dog power and we are really excited to have Cat as a part of this team!
Wes was a key contributor to team performance which is always a tough role and task to step into as a freshman, especially with the most competitive Men's Team Michigan Tech has ever fielded! Wes scored 2x 6th place finishes this season, and at NCAA Regionals his 6th place finish helped score for the team to earn our Combined Team Championship title! Wes was also a team scorer with his 7th place finish in the classic at Conference Championships, helping the team take away its first historic Butch Riemer Cup! Wes represents the core qualities and characteristics of what makes a great athlete and teammate. He is the type of athlete every coach dreams of having on their team. He competes with humility, is a great sportsman, and is one tough cookie always giving 100% effort no matter what he faces in every race!
Coach Comments
This year marked a truly special year for the team that we'll look back to through the history books and be proud of what we all achieved, what we achieved as an entire team!
This year marked the 20th year since the first time Michigan Tech hosted a national championship event, from the 2003 International Spring Series to the 2023 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships! The most incredible part of this 20 year span is that our Race Chiefs have all been with us through it all! Not only have these inspirational leaders served through the past 20 years, they've recruited amazing additions to our Race Organizing Committee that has allowed us to maintain an incredibly well supported organization and most importantly allowed us to provide in my humble opinion the best race experience in the entire country, race after race, year after year, championship after championship! This year our team wants to give a special thank you to our entire Race Organization for all they have given to our team and our ski community, a true legacy for Michigan Tech!
Any team can have one great season, but a truly great team is able to perform one season to the next, and this season we showed we are a truly great team! Thanks to this team, Michigan Tech is now a name that people expect to see in international championship competition, at the top of the CCSA and NCAA, and truly competing with not only the very best athletes in the country but the best athletes in the world! This team has broken down barriers of what is possible for our student-athletes to achieve! They can all be proud that the next generation of Nordic Huskies will be able to represent this team knowing that they too can compete with the best athletes in the world!
Season Highlights:
• 15x USCSCA Academic All-American honorees
• 3.5 higher cumulative GPA
• Fall semester team GPAs
• Women's team 3.8925
• Men's Team 3.73
• Combined Team 3.793
• Highest in the Athletics Department
• 9th place Nordic Team at NCAA Skiing Championships
• Only Central Team to qualify full team to Championships
• Top Central Team finish at NCAA Championships
• Anabel Needham - All-American 8th place 5km skate
• Combined Overall Team Champions - NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships
• Skylar Patten - Individual Regional Champion, 10km Skate
• 5x Podium Team Finishes
• 11x All-Region finishes
• All CCSA honorees:
• First-Team: Patten, Freed, Witkowski, Solberg (4 out of 5), Laven, Needham - 6
• Second-Team: Snider, Campbell, Stow, Semb - 4
• *Half entire CCSA
• Men's Team Butch Riemer Cup CCSA Conference Champions
• First time in program history
• Combined Overall Team Champions
• CSS CCSA Invite
• US Nats CCSA Invite
• Pre-Nats CCSA Invite
• Duluth CXC Cup Opener
• US Nats
• Skylar Patten - 3rd 10km Skate, qualification to OPA Cup Finals
• Cat Stow - 3rd junior in Skate Sprint
• Anabel Needham - qualification to U23 World Ski Championships
• Adam Witkowski - 1st Skate Sprint Qualifier, qualification to Livigno World Cup
• World University Games
• Adam Witkowski, Anabel Needham, Henriette Semb
• Junior Nationals
• All three student-athletes All-Americans
• 17 student-athletes scored CCSA points for the team this season