Campbell Wins Gold in Junior Men’s Skate Sprint at U.S. Nationals

MIDWAY, Utah – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski teams completed the second day of the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships, seeing Wes Campbell and Greta Hansen excelling in the junior races on the Skate Sprint day.

Quotable

"We finished on an incredible note with Wes Campbell taking the win in the junior men's race," head coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "He skied an absolutely perfect race waiting to make his move and passing two skiers in the final 100m–really special for him to be able to come away with that win in the championship race on the course he grew up skiing on. We're so happy and excited for Wes and it was a huge victory for all of us to celebrate. We are also really stoked for Greta Hansen who just was incredibly gritty out there today battling through all the heats to get into the final. We're really proud of her and she certainly was skiing faster in every race today. Anabel also had a really strong qualifier to get in 16th. Although she had a tough quarterfinal, it was a really commendable effort and she never gave up and I think that's a huge lesson that everyone can learn–to continue to fight even when things aren't going your way in the race–It was an outstanding effort from her as always."

Wes Campbell, a native of Park City, Utah, put on an impressive performance in his home state, making it into the junior men's Skate Sprint final before taking the big step as the top finisher.

"It was a tough one out there today, but after sticking to my strengths, things came together in the final," Campbell mentioned.

Hansen also had a breakthrough performance in the junior women's Skate Sprint, making it into the finals before finishing fifth overall.

"It was a pretty fun day of racing," Hansen said. "Having teammates and coaches out on the course cheering, as well as to see Wes doing so well helped give me some much-needed energy to stay focused and try to attack through the heats."

Anabel Needham was the lone Husky to make it into the Skate Sprint finals, placing 16th overall in a stacked field. She paced the course in 3:58.98 in the qualifying round and finished sixth in her heat of the quarterfinals.

First year Synne Herheim, a native of Lillehammer, Norway, was the second finisher for the Black & Gold, placing 31st in the qualifying round.

In the men's race, Yanik Pauchard was the low-stick for Tech, finishing 64th in a field of 235 skiers. 

Frosh Axel Aflodal and Jasper Johnston cracked the top-75, placing 69th and 74th, respectively.

Up Next

The Huskies continue competition at the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships on Friday for the Skate Mass Start.