Nordic Ski Teams Prepped to Host Pre-Nationals CCSA Invite/CXC Cup
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Following an impressive season opener at the Salomon Cup in Duluth Minnesota last weekend (Dec. 10-11), the Huskies return to action at the Tech Trails playing host to the Pre-Nationals CCSA Invite/CXC Cup in Houghton, Michigan.
Saturday will be the skate interval start 10k with the skate sprint happening on Sunday. Results and a live stream for both days can be found here. The action Saturday will start at 10 a.m. with the master, senior college, U20/U18 10km, on Sunday the qualifier for master, senior college, U20/U18 women is slated for a 9 a.m. start.
"It means a lot to our ski community when we get to host our home race, we say it every year but our home meets are always our favorite ones because we do feel that community support" head coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "It's a really fun opportunity for us to showcase how amazing our ski environment is here at Tech."
The Huskies opened the season at the Salomon CXC Cup - Duluth earning the overall combined team CCSA win, and having individual winners in three of the four races.
Houghton native Anabel Needham took the win in the women's freestyle sprint. Additionally the Huskies had all seven entered in the skate sprint race make it to the qualifying rounds.
Henriette Semb, following her fourth-place finish in the women's freestyle sprint, won Sunday's classic interval start. Needham rounded out the podium with a third-place finish in the event. Olivia Laven earned a fifth-place finish.
The men of Michigan Tech cleaned up in the classic interval start, having four of the top-five finishers with Skylar Patten taking gold. Wes Campbell took silver while Colin Freed and Adam Witkowski went fourth and fifth, respectively.
Witkowski was the top-finisher in the men's freestyle sprint, placing third overall. Two additional Huskies' made the top-five with Félix Cottet-Puinel and Wes Campbell placing fourth and fifth, respectively.
"We had an awesome season opener and our team environment was really uplifting," Tom said. "It's important that everybody starts off with a strong race to build confidence for the season ahead."
"I was really impressed with the performances of the weekend, it's been a high academic stress week for these last two weeks and I think everyone had good energy," assistant coach Kristen Monahan Smith added.
Fans are encouraged to cheer on the Huskies in their first of two home events this season. Michigan Tech will also play host to the 2023 Toyota U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships presented by Hampton Inn & Suites of Houghton on Jan. 2-7.