Huskies Capture Second Place in Freestyle Race at NCAA Central Region Championships
ISHPEMING, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Skiing Teams, both men and women, secured 2nd place in today's mass freestyle races at the NCAA Central Region Championship in Ishpeming, Mich. Earning a total of 41 points and leading the 20K freestyle for the men's team was Tom Bye, Gaspard Cuenot, and Daniel Wood. In the 15K, the women locked in 39 points. The top contributors were Sonja Hedblom, Anna Kubek, and Carolyn Lucca.
In a field of 32 collegiate men skiers, the Tech men's team all managed to clock the top 15. The Huskies best finisher was Tom Bye. Bye took 3rd place with a time of 58:08.9. Gaspard Cuenot hit the line at 58:57.7 in 5th place. Following Cuenot to the finish was Daniel Wood (9th, 59:42.4), Tomi Mikkonen (10th, 59:45.5), and David Jaszczak (11st,59:48.1). Taking 1st place, was Adam Martin of Northern Michigan.
"It was a pretty good day for the Huskies today. Everybody that was in the top 10 for college was all region. We had five men in the top 10 and three women. I thought all of those skiers skied really well today," said Michigan Tech head coach Joe Haggenmiller. "Tom Bye was skiing very strong today. Gaspard Cuenot had a bit of bad luck at the start, breaking a poll and then having to work his way up through the crowd. Gaspard had to ski defensively at the end to help Tomi out to qualify for NCAA's."
The Huskies women's team polished the freestyle race all ranked in the top 20. Sonja Heblom cracked a 6th place finish in the college division with a time of 46:42.3. Following Heblom for 7th place was Anna Kubek at 47:15.5. Carolyn Lucca turned in a time of 47:18.1 for 8th place, just a second after Kubek, joined by Lisa Koenig (16th, 51:05.3), Ruth Oppliger (17th, 51:26.2), and Erin Lipp (21st, 53:29.5).
"Sonja Hedblom started out the day today with a really good race for us. Anna Kubek and Carolyn Lucca also raced quite well. Hopefully, Carolyn has put herself in a good position to qualify for NCAA's," said Haggenmiller.
The NCAA Central Region Championships wrap-up with the classic ski races on Sunday (Feb. 19) in Ishpeming. The men's 10K race begins at 10 a.m. with the women's 5K starting at noon.