Green and gold dominated the Central Region postseason awards, as Northern Michigan’s Erik Soderman landed the men’s Most Outstanding Athlete award, while teammate and sister Marie Helen Soderman earned the region’s Most Outstanding Athlete honor. Coach Sten Fjeldheim completed the sweep for the Wildcats, collecting both the men’s and women’s Coach of the Year honor. “I’m just really, really proud to win these awards,” Northern Michigan head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “It’s a great honor for all of us, and really just caps off a great season with a great group of kids.” On the men’s side, Erik Soderman found his best form when it mattered most; his late season surge culminating in a national championship at ...

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BOZEMAN, Mont. – Northern Michigan’s Marie Helen Soderman and Saint Scholastica’s Paul Schommer emerged as the CCSA’s top finishers in the final race of the college season at the third day of the NCAA Skiing Championships. Fresh off of an All-American performance in Wednesday’s skate race, Soderman earned 13th place in the women’s 15K mass start classic on Friday, while Schommer wrapped up an impressive freshman campaign for the Saints with an 18th place finish in the men’s 20K mass start classic. “Paul definitely raced better than his seed,” Saint Scholastica head coach Chad Salmela said. “To be seeded 33rd and finish 18th, there’s no way you can say that’s anything but a good thing. He had ...

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BOZEMAN, Mont. - Northern Michigan’s Erik Soderman claimed the national championship with a dominant performance in the men’s 10k skate, and three CCSA skiers (all from NMU) earned All-American honors in the first day of racing at the NCAA Championships. Soderman’s sister, Marie Helen Soderman, finished as the region’s top finisher on the women’s side, collecting a second-team All-American spot with her 10th place finish in the women’s 5K race, while Wildcat teammate Kjell-Christian Markset took ninth place at Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center. “We are really happy with our results today,” Northern Michigan head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “It was a real team effort – everyone worked really hard, from the athletes to the assistant ...

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The 2012 NCAA Championships will be live streamed from the NCAA website. Watch day one live here, and day two live here. For more information about the live webcasts visit http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule. For event times, refer to the event schedule listed at http://www.ncaa.com/info/skiing/d1/schedule. For live and official results from each race day, visit http://barttiming.com/eisa/Results12/ncaa12.htm.

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As the final week of the CCSA season kicks off, fifteen of the region’s top skiers prepare to go against the best the college world at the NCAA Championships in Bozeman, Mont. The Nordic events, being staged at Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center, start on Wednesday, March 7 at 9 a.m., with the freestyle events: a 5K for women and a 10K for men. After a day off, the skiers return for a mass start classic event (15K for women, and a 20K for men) on Friday, starting at 9 a.m. Representing the CCSA on the women’s side this season will be Northern Michigan’s Monica Markvardsen, Marie Helen Soderman and Molly Burger; Alaska’s Raphaela Sieber, Marit ...

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The CCSA officially announced its all-conference teams for the 2012 season on Thursday. Alaska saw the most skiers honored, with eight Nanooks earning All-CCSA places, and Northern Michigan landed the most first-team awards, with four. In addition, Michigan Tech’s Joe Haggenmiller was named the CCSA Women’s Coach of the Year, while Alaska Scott Jerome scooped the conference’s Men’s Coach of the Year award. On the men’s side, Northern Michigan’s Kjell-Christian Markset and Erik Soderman, Alaska’s Tyler Kornfield and Logan Hanneman, and Michigan Tech’s Mikko Harju made up the All-CCSA first team. Two more Alaska men (Erik Soderstrom and Ludwig Schott) earned All-CCSA second team honors, as did Saint Scholastica Jeremy Hecker, Michigan Tech’s Jesse Smith and Northern Michigan’s ...

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The NCAA officially announced the field for next month’s championships on Monday, with 15 CCSA skiers qualifying for nationals. Northern Michigan led the way with six NCAA berths, qualifying a full allotment of three skiers each on both the men’s and women’s side. The Wildcats’ Chris Bowler, Kjell-Christian Markset and Erik Soderman will all suit up for the men’s events, while Molly Burger, Monica Markvardsen and Marie Helen Soderman will represent the women. Alaska will also have five representatives at the NCAA’s, with Crystal Pitney, Marit Rjabov and Raphaela Sieber all qualifying for the women, and Logan Hanneman and Tyler Kornfield earning spots for the men. Michigan Tech sends two qualifiers to the NCAA Championships for the second ...

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ISHPEMING, Mich – Host Northern Michigan completed a clean sweep of the NCAA Regional titles on Sunday, taking home the men’s, women’s and overall titles by comfortable margins after taking five of the six podium spots in the classic races at the Al Quaal Ski Trails. NMU’s Erik Soderman made a late charge to nip past Alaska’s Jonas Loeffler and win the men’s 15K mass start event by less than a second, while the Monica Markvardsen led a Wildcat sweep of the women’s 10K podium. “I’ve just been really impressed with my skiers all season,” NMU head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “They’ve just had a great attitude, and been really professional. You can tell they just really ...

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ISHPEMING, Mich. – Wins by Marie Helen Soderman and Erik Soderman propelled hosts Northern Michigan into sizable leads after the first day of the NCAA Regionals. The Wildcats landed placed all three of their scoring skiers in the top four in both the women’s 5K and men’s 10K events, giving them a 10-point lead on the women’s side and a 12-point lead on the men’s side. Tensions were high prior to the individual start race, which serves as the last skate qualifier for the NCAA Championship spots. Soderman, however, quickly shook off any nerves she was feeling to turn in a dominant performance on the Al Quaal Ski Trails. The junior cruised to a regional title in ...

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HOUGHTON, Mich . – Victories in the men’s and women’s 3x5K freestyle relay earned Northern Michigan both the women’s and overall team titles at the CCSA Championships while Alaska claimed the men’s title, besting the Wildcats by eight points. In a change of format from previous year’s conference championships, this year’s crowns were decided by taking the team scores from three events: the classic sprint from the Hilltop Invitational on Jan. 15, yesterday’s distance classic race and today’s relays at the Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center. The Northern women entered the day with a healthy 11-point advantage, and quickly extended that lead, as the A-team of Marie Helen Soderman, Molly Burger and Monica Markvardsen cruised to a ...

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