Goble Wins 10k Freestyle as Michigan Tech Hosts CXC Cup
Saturday's Men's Results
Saturday's Women's Results
Sunday's Men's Results
Sunday's Women's Results
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Junior Sarah Goble put in another excellent weekend on the trails as she finished second and first in the 5k Classic and 10k Freestyle, respectively, as the Michigan Tech Nordic ski team closed out the 2018 calendar year by hosting the MTU CXC Cup at the Tech Trails.
"We've had a solid start to the season," says head coach Thomas Smith. "We've had some good team results here. We're in a good spot with our women's team, with as strong a start as they've had in years, and for our men's team they've been skiing well."
Goble made the podium after Saturday's 5k Classic, finishing second with a time of 15:56.4, finishing only 17.9 seconds behind Mara McCollor of Minneapolis Ski Club. On Sunday, Goble beat out Northern Michigan's Nicole Schneider in the 10k Freestyle. Goble trailed Schneider down the home stretch, but she kicked at the right time and pulled ahead of her opponent just before the finish line. Goble's time in the Freestyle was 30:09.2, putting her 0.5 seconds ahead of Schneider to take first place.
Junior Amanda Kautzer also put in a solid two days on the trails. Coming off a season where she competed at the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships, Kautzer took sixth place in Saturday's 5k Classic and in Sunday's 10k Freestyle. The junior finished at 16:09.8 on Saturday, and her time on Sunday was 30:50.5.
"I was pretty happy with it," Kautzer said following the 10k Freestyle. "I was hoping to stay with the lead pack all the way to the finish. I got a little tripped up, but I felt like I pushed it through, and stayed with them as much as I could. It was a fun race to be apart of with that group, including Sarah."
Senior Erin Lipp also had a good CXC Cup performance, placing 18th in Saturday's 5k Classic (17:00.1) and 13th in the 10k Freestyle (32:13.2).
The men's team had a number of good performances over the weekend. Sophomore Reid Goble put in a good performance on the Tech trails, finishing Saturday as the top U20 racer in the 10k Classic with a time of 27:22.3 to take sixth overall. Joining Goble on the podium of the U20 skiiers in the 10k Classic from was senior Gaspard Cuenot in ninth with a time of 27:38.3 and freshman Kristoffer Vollset in 11th with a time of 27:41.7. On Sunday, it was Cuenot with the top finish for the Black and Gold, coming in fourth with a time of 26:19.4. Sophomore Patrick Acton finished next for the Huskies in seventh (26:39.5), and Goble rounded out the Top 10 for Michigan Tech with a ninth-place finish (26:56.7).
"We know on any great day for our team, we can get a Tech guy on that podium," Smith said. "And we fully expect that every weekend, moving forward."
The team will get a chance to rest and focus on Finals as the Huskies will have a two and-a-half week break from competition before traveling to Craftsbury, Vermont for the 2018 US Cross Country Skiing Championships on January 3-8.