Patten Wins Skate Interval Start at Salomon CXC Cup
CABLE, Wis. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski team posted six podium finishes, highlighted by Skylar Patten's victory in the Skate Interval Start at the Salomon CXC Cup over the weekend in Cable, Wisconsin.
Quotable
"The team had great competitive improvements this weekend in both races," head coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "We're really excited to be in a great place competitively to finish the December race period in a confident spot with our preparations now focused on U.S. Nationals. The classic race was highlighted by Axel Aflodal taking the second step on the podium with a strong performance in the men's final. Jasper Johnston made his first sprint final as a collegiate student-athlete for us which was outstanding as well. Anabel Needham made her second final of the season as well as Greta Hanson being the top junior for the second consecutive week making her second final in a row. Wes Campbell came back to win the junior heats in a very commanding fashion. Hailee Zimpel also got second in the junior finals, getting some awesome experience to end up on the podium. The conditions were super wet and sloppy which were really challenging but I think we showed that we really thrive in those conditions.
"The team really paced the race to perfection in the skate distance race today and I think it showed in the success that we had–definitely having our strongest race of the season today. We know that we're really strong in skate distance races but it was awesome to show that those are going to continue to be a strength of ours. The team paced progressively getting faster in tough conditions–It was awesome to see Skylar be healthy and showing that he's in incredible shape taking that win along with Wes Campbell having his best skate race of his career as a Husky to get onto the podium for the first time in a CCSA skate race. On the women's side–we're really stoked for both Anabel and Olivia to get on the podium in a really contested race. Seeing all of our student-athletes giving 100% effort in really challenging conditions at the end of a really challenging academic period as well and we're excited for the next step which is getting ready to fire it up at U.S. Nationals."
Saturday
The men took to the course first for Saturday's Classic Sprint, with frosh Axel Aflodal once again vying for a podium spot, taking third overall just shy of a silver performance. Jasper Johnston also made the finals, placing fifth in the race.
The Huskies produced three additional performances among the top-15, with Yanik Pauchard finishing in ninth-place, followed by Skylar Patten in 12th and Henry Snider taking 15th. Tryg Solberg cracked the top-20 with his time of 3:30.5, placing him 18th.
The women's race also showcased a podium finish as Marie Sølverud Wangen claimed bronze by less than a second. Anabel Needham joined her in the finals, coming out with a sixth-place performance.
Greta Hanson was the third Huskies finisher just outside of the top-10 with her 11th-place finish. Olivia Laven was close behind in 14th-place.
Sunday
The Interval Skate Start showcased multiple podium finishes for the Huskies with Anabel Needham and Olivia Laven made the podium, finishing second and third, respectively.
Needham finished 30 seconds before Laven, who had a five second gap on the fourth-place finisher.
Marie Sølverud Wangen was the next Husky finisher, cracking the top-10 with a ninth place finish in 28:06.0. First year Greta Hanson displayed her endurance as the fourth finisher for MTU in 14th-place. Alice McKnight was close behind in 16th-place. Ingrid Halverson and Hailee Zimpel rounded out the Tech finishers in 28th and 32nd place, respectively.
The men's Interval Skate Start would showcase four Huskies in the top-10 along with two podium finishes as Skylar Patten took gold by almost 33 seconds, with Wes Campebell battling to the line to take third but the slimmest of margins.
Tryg Solberg was the next finisher with his fourth-place finish of 25:26.5. Axel Aflodal rounded out the top-10 performances for Michigan Tech with a seventh-place finish. Henry Snider was just outside with his 11th-place finish. Following Snider was a pack of Huskies finishing 18th-20th in Yanik Pauchard, Jasper Johnston and Sam Stertz.
Parker Courte-Rathwell (25th-place) and Colin Freed (27th-place) rounded out the Huskies squad.
Up Next
The Huskies will enjoy some time off before heading to Midway, Utah, for the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships, taking place on Jan. 2-7.
