Nordic Huskies wrap up season at NCAA Championships
JACKSON, N.H. – The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams wrapped up the 2021 season at the NCAA Championships over the weekend in New Hampshire. The men placed eighth as a Nordic program and the women were eighth. Every student-athlete that participated for the Huskies over the weekend scored for the first time in program history.
Henriette Semb placed 13th in Saturday's 15K freestyle and was six seconds out of 11th place and 20 seconds from an All-American finish. Anabel Needham was 19th in Thursday's 5K classic with the other top 20 result for the Black and Gold.
Semb was 24th in the classic and Needham placed 26th in the freestyle. Olivia Laven was 29th in the freestyle and 36th in the classic as all three women raced in their first NCAA Championship.
"Henriette had her best race of the season, and we are so happy for her to have achieved that in the Championships," Tech coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "Anabel had two strong performances and had an incredibly respectable 19th place finish in the classic. Olivia battled with the heat in the classic race, but bounced back to score for the team in the skate race."
On the men's side, Reid Goble placed 22nd both days. Aleksi Leino was 21st in the 20K freestyle and 28th in the 10K classic. Patrick Acton was 23rd in the classic and 27th in the freestyle.
"All three men scored in both races which was a huge achievement for them as a team," Monahan Smith added. "Reid took a risk to try to ski with the fifth-place skier and ended up fading a bit at the end, but we are so proud that he laid it all out there. He had to go for it to seek an outstanding result and even though he came up short it was not for a lack of laying it all out there and truly going for it.
"Aleksi led the men's team in the skate with his best race of the season in 21st, and skied like a true Championship skier today."
"It was awesome to see all three men, who are all seniors, finish their Michigan Tech careers skiing strong here at the Championships. They gave it absolutely everything on the racecourses, and it is a major achievement for them to finish as an elite eight team in the country."
Smith talks more about the women's team, "Our three skiers on the women's side included one freshman and two sophomores who are all first-time NCAA Championship competitors. It is incredibly motivating to know all of these women will be returning, and all have two or three more opportunities to compete here. Our entire women's team fought so incredibly tough in every race this season, and we are most proud that they truly gave their absolute best effort in these races."
The team dealt with difficult conditions all weekend in New Hampshire, "The ski conditions were incredibly challenging. We experienced very warm weather in the classic race on Thursday with temperatures in the mid-60s, and another warm day today in the skate with variable snow conditions with a mix of new, old, icy, and wet snow. The warm ski conditions were certainly tough for us as a team as we have not raced in this warm or wet of conditions this season. It is something you always expect in spring championships, but it is challenging to prepare for every time.
"Getting to experience these Championships allows us to evaluate what we need to focus on as a team to look to improve our bid for next year. For our returning women, it will be an incredible advantage in the future having had this opportunity to compete and they will bring a great depth of experience to our future Championship bids."
