Huskies Earn Combined Team Win at Pre-Nationals CCSA Invite/CXC Cup
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski teams continued to impress in their second meet of the year, with three event winners at the Pre-Nationals CCSA Invite/CXC Cup held at the Tech Trails on the campus of Michigan Tech University on December 17-18.
The Huskies saw individual winners in both the men's and women's freestyle interval start Saturday to pair with the individual winner in the freestyle sprint on Sunday. Backed by three event winners, Michigan Tech earned the combined team win as well.
We've shown through these first two race weekends we are the team in the Central Region to beat this season," head coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "Both the men's & women's teams had a dominating performance in Saturday's Skate 10km race, and that is how we know we can perform as a team through this entire season if every student-athlete shows up on race day and throws down their fastest race."
Olivia Laven started the day for the Huskies, earning her first win of the season in the freestyle interval start (30:47.7).
"It was a fun race and I got my first CCSA win," added Laven on her win in the freestyle interval start.
Houghton native Anabel Needham picked up third-place clocking in at 31:31.9.
"It was super fun to race with the team and some future Huskies, our strength coach Riley helping with our balance saved us today on the corners of the course," Needham added.
Following the podium finishes, the Huskies also grabbed fourth-place in Henriette Semb, while Cat Stow rounded out the top-10 with her 10th-place finish.
With her efforts, Stow earned the runner-up finish among the U20 finishers (33:01.9).
Skylar Patten won the men's freestyle interval start (25:21.7), with Tryg Solberg earning a podium spot with his third-place finish (26:18.5).
"My plan for the race was to ski as smooth as possible and hit the second half of the course faster than the first," Patten said.
Solberg had a similar plan as he was hoping not to burn out on the first lap and not take the uphills too hard.
The depth of the Huskies was on full display as Michigan Tech claimed seven of the top-10 finishers.
Colin Freed (26:23.1) and Adam Witkowski (26:31.7) claimed fourth and fifth-place finishes.
The Huskies' also claimed seventh, eighth and tenth in Henry Snider (26:57.0), Wes Campbell (27:04.4) and Yanik Pauchard (27:13.7).
Campbell's efforts also awarded him a podium finish in the U20 field, taking silver.
The Huskies continued to impress on the second day in the freestyle sprint. The women of Michigan Tech saw six skiers advancing into the qualifying rounds.
Anabel Needham, following her third-place finish in the women's 10k skate on Saturday, claimed gold in Sunday's freestyle sprint, winning by over three seconds. The Huskies packed up to amass fourth-place and fifth-place finishes from Henriette Semb and freshman Cat Stow.
Adam Witkowski qualified for the men's freestyle sprint final, however, he had some difficulty on the course, finishing sixth in the race.
Despite only one qualifier making it to the finals, the Huskies accumulated the most racers in the semi-finals with six.
In the first of the two semi-final heats, Cedric Keller and Yanik Pauchard placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
With four Huskies in the second heat of the semi-finals, Witkowski claimed the heat for the third-fastest time in the field. Also in that heat were Skylar Patten, Parker Courte-Rathwell and Jasper Johnston. The tandem placed third, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Team Standings
MTU | 264
NMU | 259
CSS | 204
UWGB| 135
SOC | 019
We are so grateful for the support of all of our volunteers and the Athletic Department who hosted this incredible event for us," Monahan Smith said. "We want to give them a dear and sincere thank you for their selfless service and tireless hard work to make these events possible!"
The Huskies will return to action playing host to the 2023 Toyota U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships presented by Hampton Inn & Suites of Houghton taking place Jan. 2-7.
"We are looking forward to the 2023 US Cross Country Ski National Championships up next and these first two weekends of racing have given us confidence the Huskies are ready to represent," Monahan Smith added.