Women's Nordic Ski Team earns win at Mt. Itasca
COLERAINE, Minn. – The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams kicked off their CCSA portion of the schedule at the Mt. Itasca CXC Cup. The women earned a team win on the weekend while the men place second.
"We're proud of the start that we had this weekend in the CCSA," Tech coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "We'll be able to build on this and carry that confidence into our home weekend."
Anabel Needham and Henriette Semb each earned an individual win at Mt. Itasca. The duo finished first and second both days with Needham winning Saturday's 10K skate interval start and Semb taking the crown in the 7.5K classic mass start on Sunday.
Eight Huskies placed in the top 15 in the women's skate. Olivia Laven (4th), Nea Katajala (7th), Mary Lyon (8th), Marie Sølverud Wangen (11th), Ingrid Halverson (13th), Alice McKnight (14th) rounded out results Saturday. Wangen (7th) and Laven (10th) also had top 10s in the classic.
The men's team had six different guys with a top 10 on the weekend. Skylar Patten was on the podium in the 15K skate and placed fourth in the 10K classic. Colin Freed battled to a fourth-place finish in the skate and was 10th in the classic.
Félix Cottet-Puinel was also top 10 both days with an eighth-place finish in the classic and ninth Saturday in the skate. Adam Witkowski (6th classic), Tryg Solberg (8th skate), and Mark Ousdigian (10th skate) also had a top 10 finish.
"The women's team had an outstanding weekend, and it was awesome to see the guys have their best weekend as a team yet," added Monahan Smith. "They kept pushing to get into scoring position.
"Everyone had to battle through some brutally cold temperatures that delayed the start of each race day. The mass start racing was scrappy, but it's fun that we are able to get back to that style of racing.
"I'm proud of the tenacity of the entire team for the true competitive spirit they showed by working together and continuing to improve."
Tech hosts its only home weekend of the season on January 29-30 for the CCSA MTU Invite & GLD CXC Cup. Saturday will be an interval start skate 10/15K followed by an interval start classic 5/10K on Sunday at the Tech Trails.