Posted: Mar 06, 2024

Nordic Huskies Set to Compete at NCAA Championships

HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski teams are set for the big stage, sending a full team to the NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, March 7 & 9. This marks the fifth-consecutive season in the Monahan Smith era that the Huskies have sent a complete team to NCAAs.

The Huskies will race the 7.5km Skate Interval Start Thursday and the 20km Classic Mass Start on Saturday.

Quotable

"We are so looking forward to the NCAA Championships," head coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "We've had the perfect preparation here in Steamboat with great training and acclimatization. We have a truly outstanding team of student-athletes representing Michigan Tech at NCAAs, all with incredible Championship experience and competitive momentum, and we are ready to give it our best."

Tech returns five skiers who competed at last season NCAA Championships in Anabel Needham, Olivia Laven, this year's Elite 90 recipient. Skylar Patten, Colin Freed and Henry Snider also return to the big dance for the Huskies. Tryg Solberg is an alternate, while first year Synne Herheim will make her NCAA Championships debut.

Needham and Laven return to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in their careers as Patten, Freed and Snider return for their third time.

Skylar Patten earned Second Team All-America honors after a 10th-place finish in the 20km skate two seasons ago.

One Last Thing

Houghton, Michigan, native Anabel Needham will look to earn her third-straight All-America finish, having an 8th-place finish in the 5km freestyle a season ago and a 4th-place finish in the 5km classic two years ago.