Needham has big weekend for Nordic ski team at NMU Invitational
ISHPEMING, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic ski team raced at the NMU CCSA Invitational over the weekend at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, Michigan.
The women's team had seven top 10 finishes led Anabel Needham with a second-place finish in Saturday's classic race and third in Sunday's skate. Needham was 12 seconds off the lead in the 5K classic and 1:22 back of the leader in the 15K skate.
"Anabel really skied strong through the entire weekend," Tech coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "Anabel led the charge for the team and laid it all out there. She showed great leadership and stepped up for her team even when we were having a tough day Sunday."
Oda Hovland was just off the podium in the classic with a fourth-place finish. Henriette Semb was fifth-place in classic and seventh in the skate. Other top 10 finishes for the women were Olivia Laven in eighth in the classic and Mary Lyon 10th in the skate. Johanna Craig was top 15 both days.
Reid Goble once again led the men with a podium third-place finish in Sunday's freestyle. He covered the 20K course in 51:22 and was 1:07 off the lead.
Patrick Acton had top 10 finishes both days, placing fifth in the skate and ninth in the 15K classic. Aleksi Leino (7th) was top 10 in the classic and Skylar Patten (6th) and Cedric Keller (10th) were top 10 in the skate.
Mark Ousdigian, Henry Snider, and Adam Witkowski also had top 15 finishes on the weekend.
"I'm very proud of how the men bounced back on Sunday," Monahan Smith added. "It's easy to ski fast on the second day after having a great first day, but it's much harder to ski fast on the second day after having a failed race on Saturday. Obviously, you're not caring that same confidence. It was a proud moment for us Sunday after they had such a tough day on Saturday. It really showed their true strength.
"There is much more depth in the CCSA field this year than in the recent past. It's harder to get big scoring results. A podium result is an incredible honorable and these top 10s are great results. Overall, I think we can execute better for two-day results, but we had a pretty solid weekend."
The Huskies continue competition this weekend at the UWGB CCSA Invitational - CCSA at the CAVOC Trails in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The teams will race classic on Saturday and skate on Sunday.