The US National Cross Country Championships took place shortly after the new year in Craftsbury, VT. These world-class trails are located in the remote northern parts of Vermont. Home to many big events, the athletes competing here were in for some great racing.

While there were four races over the course of the week, the two important ones in relation to the CCSA were the individual classic and freestyle sprint races. These two events were the first of 10 NCAA qualifying races for the region. The other two races during the week were classic sprints and a freestyle mass start.

The first race of the week was the individual classic races. Starting things off with a bang, the NMU men went 1-2-5 in the college rankings (8th, 12th, and 17th overall). Zak Ketterson took the top spot in the collegiate podium, closely followed by teammate Ian Torchia. Kjetil Banerud was the third Wildcat to finish off the impressive start. On the women’s side of things, the NMU Wildcats swept the CCSA podium for the first time this season finishing 15th, 19th, and 20th in the collegiate field (40th, 48th, and 49th overall). Nicole Schneider got her week started off on the right foot with her fast time on the day. Teammates Julie Ensrud and Abigail Jarzin finished within seconds of each other to finish the CCSA sweep.

Only 1 day later was the 2nd of 4 races, being the classic sprints. It was a second strong day in a row for the NMU men with Keterson repeating as the fastest collegiate skier (6th overall). Just missing out on qualifying for the A-Final, Daniel Streinz (NMU) was the second collegiate skier (7th overall). Finishing the CCSA podium sweep (and nearly collegiate podium sweep) was Mathias Rolid (NMU) as the 4th collegiate skier (11th overall). On the women’s side, the lone qualifier from the CCSA was Sarah Bezdicek (NMU) as the 7th collegiate skier (28th overall). Nicole Schneider (NMU) was the 11th collegiate skier (37th overall) and Julie Ensrud was the 27th collegiate skier (66th overall).

All of the athletes were given a one day rest day before picking up on the 3rd day of racing. The longest event of the championships was the 20/30km freestyle mass start races. Once again it was the NMU Men’s team leading the CCSA field at the US National Championships. Kjetil Banerud led the CCSA field as the 3rd collegiate skier (18th overall). Only two seconds further behind was teammate Zak Ketterson finishing as the 4th collegiate skier (20th overall). Ian Torchia rounds out the NMU Wildcat CCSA podium sweep as the 5th collegiate skier (22nd overall). Schneider once again leads the CCSA field as the 6th collegiate skier (18th overall). Sarah Goble (MTU) makes her return to the CCSA podium as the 12th collegiate skier (28th overall). Julie Ensrud finished the CCSA podium as the 17th collegiate skier (34th overall).

The final day of racing was the second of the CCSA qualification races. This marks as the first time that a sprint race is used for an NCAA qualifier. NMU finished their stellar week on a high note with having two men qualify for the A-Final. Daniel Streinz finished as the 2nd collegiate skier (4th overall) and Zak Ketterson was 3rd collegiate skier (6th overall). Kjetil Banerud (NMU) once again finished on the CCSA podium as the 6th collegiate skier (16th overall). Three CCSA women were able to qualify for the senior heats. Nicole Schneider made it into the quarterfinals finishing as the third collegiate skier (14th overall). Teammate Sarah Bezdicek finished as the 5th collegiate skier (17th overall). Rounding out the CCSA podium was Amanda Kautzer finishing as the 6th collegiate skier (20th overall).

In the background of all the racing is the College Cup. This takes the results from only the college teams during the week of racing. NMU took top honors, topping the men’s events while the NMU women finished in third. Combined, NMU was the top scoring college in the country with 709 points, more than 40 points in front of the runner up. Zak Ketterson was also named as the Collegiate Grand Champion being the highest placed college skier through the entire week.

Another set of qualifiers that take place based on the results from the National Championships are team selections for the U23 and U20 World Championships. Three CCSA skiers qualified to be apart of these teams that will be traveling to Lahti, Finland for the championships. Zak Ketterson, Ian Torchia, and Daniel Streinz (NMU) all qualified for the championships at the end of the month.

The next set of races are back in the Midwest. All teams will meet at the Birkie Trail Head for a CCSA/CXC Cup on the 19th and 20th. There will be a classic sprint and a classic mass start race for the weekend.

The MTU CXC CUP races showed a competitive start to Midwest racing at both the Junior and Collegiate level. There was an impressive 450 plus racers in all of the events that took place over the weekend. The skiers and spectators lucked out unusual warm and sunny weather. The race course has good snow cover and fast conditions despite a “low” snow fall total so far this year in Houghton.

The Saturday race for the women consisted of an interval start 5k classic. Staying undefeated so far this season, Sarah Goble (MTU) was the fastest collegiate skier in a time of 15:56.4. In what was the closest finish of the season so far, Nicole Schneider (NMU) finished in 2nd only +0.6 seconds behind Goble. NMU teammate Nadine Matter closed the CCSA podium at 16:06.9. Fastest time of the day belonged to Mara McCollor from Minneapolis Ski Club with a blazing time of 15:38.5.

The men completed two laps of the 5k course. Kjetil Stuge Baanerud (NMU) had good form on the day and led the 127 person field in a time of 26:25.8. Following closely behind and rounding out the podium sweep were teammates Zak Ketterson and Ian Torchia. Ketterson and Torchia were +4.8 and +8.0 seconds behind Baanerud, but still had a comfortable lead of more than 30 seconds to the 4th place finisher.

Day two provided excitement with the first mass start races of the season. The womens 10km skate was an exciting affair with a large group of women skiing together for most of the race. At the halfway mark there was a group of 5 skiers that managed a break from the rest of the field (Goble [MTU], Schneider [NMU], Ensrud [NMU], Jarzin [NMU], McCollor [MSC]). In what was a repeat performance of the day prior, Goble continues her streak with another win topping Schneider in a dramatic sprint to the finish by 0.2 seconds in a time of 30:09.2. Ensrud was the best of the remaining members of the 5 person group 4.9 seconds back.

The mens race was a slightly more tactical affair with NMU using some team skiing that lead to a second podium sweep in a row. The early breakaway group consisted of Zak Ketterson (NMU), Ian Torchia (NMU), Mathias Rolid (NMU), and Gaspard Cuenot (MTU). The three NMU teammates took turns sharing the workload on the front for 6km before finally breaking Cuenot after the hairpin on the second lap. Ketterson and Torchia skied then away from Rolid on the back section of the course and made for a second exciting finish on the day. Ketterson beat out Torchia to the line by +0.8 seconds in a time of 25:29.1. Rolid finished +39.7 seconds back in a time of 26:08.8.

The CCSA takes a short break from racing to celebrate the holidays. The next races that take place will be the first NCAA scoring races at Senior Nationals in Craftsbury, VT on January 3rd-8th. The qualifier races are a 10/15km classic interval start and a 20/30km freestyle mass start.

The weekend of racing took place at Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, MI. Hosted by Northern Michigan University we saw solid competition from Michigan Tech University, University of Wisconsin Green Bay, and the College of Saint Scholastica. This early season race was the first look at the 2018-2019 Ski Season.

The Saturday race for the women consisted of an interval start 5k freestyle race. Leading the field was Sarah Goble (MTU) with a blistering time of 14:35.4. Following +7.3 seconds behind was Nicole Schneider (NMU), and rounding out the podium was Sarah Bezdicek (NMU) in 14:54.9. Both Goble and Schneider are the top returning women for their respective teams. Top UWGB skier, Sadie Peterson, finished 9th place on the back end of a very close group of women, only 20 seconds back from 4th.

The men completed two laps of the 5k course. Top returning NMU skier and 2018 NCAA National Champion, Ian Torchia, is currently out west skiing at Super Tour races. His absence left the top spot on the podium up for grabs. Teammate Zak Ketterson rose to the occasion and dominated the field by nearly 30 seconds in a time of 24:41.0. Gaspard Cuenot (MTU) was the closest competitor at 25:09.3. Kjetil Baanerud (NMU) took the third step 35 seconds back from Cuenot in 25:54.8. All three men were qualifiers at last seasons NCAA National Championships. Top skier for the Phoenix (UWGB) was Jake Ajax in 12th.

On day two the women doubled the distance for the classic race and completed two laps of the grueling course. Sarah Goble showcased her fitness for a second day in a row and topped the womens field in 33:16.5. Freshman Nadine Matter (NMU) made a big splash on her first CCSA race weekend finishing closely behind in second at 33:20.1. Sarah Bezdicek returned to the 3rd step on the podium for the second time in as many days. Sarah finished the 10km course in 33:42.2. Sadie Peterson (UWGB) and Nicole Gilman (CSS) both cracked the top 10 on the day in 8th and 10th respectively.

The men also added an extra lap for Sunday’s classic interval start race. Zak Ketterson proved his dominance once again topping the field by over a minute in a time of 41:05.4. Mathias Rolid and Kjetil Baanerud rounded out the NMU podium sweep in times of 42:08.1 and 42:32.2 respectively. Emil Book Bratbak (CSS) finished in 10th while Jake Ajax (UWGB) had a repeat performance in 12th place.

CCSA racing picks up again next weekend in Houghton, MI at the Michigan Tech trails. This race will be combined with a CXC Junior Cup so the field should be much deeper. There will be a 5/10km interval classic on Saturday, with a 10km mass start freestyle for both genders on Sunday.

On January 28th, the CCSA teams traveled to Rhinelander, WI, for the CCSA Qualifier hosted by the Northwoods Nordic Ski Club, University of Wisconsin Green Bay and College of Saint Scholastica. The race for the weekend was a classic interval start, 15K for the men and 10K for women.

Kjetil Banerud from NMU raced to the top position in the men’s field with time of 41:15.6. Teammate Lars Soensterud finished second, just a few seconds back. MTU’s Gaspard Cuenot was third in a time of 41:49.1 and just below the podium spots was Tamer Mische-Richter (4th) from Saint Scholastica and Jacob Ajax (5th) skiing for UWGB.

The women’s field was led by Vivian Hett from Northern who crossed the finish line in 31:50.2, an outstanding 1:33.1 ahead of another Wildcat, Kristen Bourne. The third spot was claimed by Scholastica’s Kelsey Dickinson. Michigan Tech women were led by Sarah Goble (6th) followed by Maria Hauer (7th) from Saint Cloud State. The top skiers for UWGB and Saint Olaf were Mykaela McMuellen (12th) and Daisy Richmond (22nd) respectively.

The next set of races will be held at Michigan Tech in Houghton, MI on 3rd and 4th of February.

After a two week break, the CCSA teams continued their official race season this past weekend at the Birkie Trailhead in Cable, WI, with the Gitchi Gami Games.

The women kicked off the race weekend with a five kilometer classic individual race. The collegiate field was led by Vivian Hett (3rd) from Northern Michigan, crossing the finish line at 15:04.9, followed by her teammates Kristen Bourne (4th), Anikken Alnaes (5th) and Sarah Bezdicek (6th). Another top ten finisher was Maria Hauer (7th) representing St. Cloud State University. The College of St. Scholastica was led by Kelsey Dickinson (12th), Michigan Tech by Sarah Goble (16th) and UWGB by Oda Bekkestad, coming in 43rd.

NMU’s Kjetil Banerud led the men’s field over a distance of 10 kilometers, clocking in at 27:27.2. Jacob Ajax (University of Wisconsin Green Bay) and Mathias Rolid (NMU) round out the podium. Michigan Tech’s Mitchell DeLong (5th) and Reid Goble (7th), as well as St. Scholastica’s Tamer Mische-Richter (6th) got a top ten finish. St. Olaf was led by Tyler Radke taking 36th place.

On Sunday, January 21, the women raced a 10 kilometer freestyle mass start race. NMU’s Vivian Hett striked again as the fastest collegiate skier, finishing with a time of 26:10.4. Hett’s teammates Anikken Alnaes, Julie Ensrud and MTU’s Sarah Goble also finished in the top 5. Kelsey Dickinson of Saint Scholastica (13th), Maria Hauer (25th) of St. Cloud, Stephanie Balas (39th) of St. Olaf and Oda Bekkestad (40th) of Green Bay took the top finishes for their teams.

In the men’s 15K, Tom Bye from Michigan Tech claimed victory with a time of 34:35.2. Kjetil Banerud and Gaspard Cuenot from Northern and Tech joined him on podium. The top finishers for each of the CCSA teams was Tamer Mische-Richter (6th) for St. Scholastica, Jacob Ajax (14th) for UWGB and Tyler Radke (30th) for St. Olaf.

Results can be found at: www.superiortiming.com

The teams of the CCSA traveled to Jackson, NH last week to compete in the 2017 NCAA Championships hosted by the University of New Hampshire. On Thursday, March 9th the men competed in the 10K classic individual start race while the women raced a 5K in difficult, constantly changing snow conditions. Two days later, on March 11th, was the 20K mass start skate race for men and 15K for women.

Martin Bergstrom of the University of Utah won the men’s race while Fredrik Schwencke of the Northern Michigan University Wildcats led the CCSA with a 6th place finish. Schwenckes’s teammate, Adam Martin, finished just behind in 7th place to take the top American spot in the competition. Both earned All-American honors for their performances. On the women’s side, Vivian Hett earned All-American honors with a 6th place finish, finishing behind race winner Petra Hyncicova of the University of Colorado.

Joe Haggenmiller commented on his team performance: “The NCAAs were a mixed bag for the Huskies. Our men being in the top 10 of men’s Nordic is a good mark for the team to build on for the future. Tomi Mikkonen had a pretty good classic race for a lower ranked classic skier and Tom Bye skied strong to move up to 14th in the freestyle mass start after breaking 2 poles and being left at the back of the field in last place. We were close with Gaspard’s skate race as he was skiing fairly comfortably with the lead pack for a lap and a half until his back began to bother him and eventually had him unable to ski with full power falling back through the field. Our women battled, but struggled with the challenging conditions thrown at them. I feel for them to be ending their Husky careers with some sour results, but that is the way ski racing goes. We wish them well in the future.”

Both Bergstrom and Hyncicova repeated as champions in Saturday’s mass start races. Martin led the CCSA with a second All-American performance in 6th place while MTU’s Tom Bye crossed line as the 14th collegiate skier in the field. Reitler Hodgert from Saint Scholastica finished 24th. NMU’s Kristen Bourne skied to a 13th place finish to earn the top CCSA spot of the day. Vivian Hett and Nicole Schneider, both of NMU, and Kelsey Dickinson of CSS took 22nd, 23rd and 26th respectively.

“CSS has a great time at NCAA’s with mostly results to match. Our skiers were gutsy and executed race plans really well. We are super proud of this team and motivated to start training for next year.” said Maria Stuber, Saint Scholastica’s head coach.

For results click: http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results17/ncaa17.htm

Ishpeming, MI – The two days of the CCSA/NCAA Regional Championships, held at Al Quaal Recreation and Outdoor Center by the Northern Michigan ski team, presented several challenges for the collegiate teams. First, the conjunction of the collegiate race with the USSA Super Tour brought a significant increase in competition and numbers. Professional athletes from across the nation attended the event vying for a top podium spot. The second challenge was the unusually high temperatures for mid-February.

On Saturday, the women faced three 5K laps during their mass start freestyle event. Northern Michigan women swept the collegiate podium, placing Nicole Schneider in first (44:59.8), Kristen Bourne in second and Vivian Hett in third. Kelsey Dickinson from Saint Scholastica came in fifth followed by Michigan Tech’s Sonja Hedblom (6th), Anna Kubek (7th) and Carolyn Lucca (8th). Sadie Peterson of Green Bay came in ninth. The top women from Saint Olaf and St. Cloud were Bri Paulsen (15th) and Maria Hauer (22nd) respectively.

“I was happy with how the Huskies performed this weekend. I think the five athletes we had who came in needing to perform to get to the NCAA Championships or to go into the Championships with confidence did well in this regard. I was also happy to see the upward trending skiing of Anna Kubek, who despite not being an NCAA Qualifier may have been our best female skier this weekend.” said MTU’s head coach Joe Haggenmiller

The men’s 20K was taken over by Adam Martin, skiing for the Wildcats, who crossed the line as the fastest collegiate skier (55:41.6). Martin shared the podium with his teammate Fredrik Schwencke (2nd) and Tom Bye (3rd) from Michigan Tech. NMU’s Zak Ketterson followed in fourth, MTU’s Gaspard Cuenot (5th), CSS’ Reitler Hodgert (6th) and Kyle Marshall (8th) from UWGB. Men from St. Olaf were led by Tyler Radke coming in 22nd.

Scholastica’s head coach Maria Stuber commented on her team’s performance: “We were really happy with our Regional performance, qualifying 2 athletes for NCAA’s and have 4 all-region races. CSS is ecstatic to have a solid group of 7 men and 5 women in the overall top 20 on the CCSA points list. This group of athletes will raise the bar for our program in 2018.”

Sunday morning kicked off with the men’s 10K classic interval start. Adam Martin clocked in 25:33.5 and claimed another victory. Gaspard Cuenot from Michigan Tech took second and Fredrik Schwencke from Northern finished third. Within the mix of Tech and Northern skiers, Scholastica’s Reitler Hogert placed seventh and Kyle Marhall rounded the top ten.

In the women’s 5K, Wildcats claimed all the podium spots with Nicole Schneider in first, Vivian Hett in second and Kristen Bourne in third. Just off the podium finished Scholastica’s Kelsey Dickinson. Tech women put the following three skiers in the top ten: Anna Kubek (7th), Carolyn Lucca (8th) and Lisa Koenig (9th).

The results in the team competitions, men’s, women’s and overall, remained unchanged for all categories with Northern in first, Tech in second and Scholastica placing third.

Rhinelander, WI – Teams of CCSA took part in 5 and 10 kilometer classic races held on COVAC ski trails. Originally, this weekend was supposed to be dedicated to relays but due to previous changes, the University of Wisconsin Green Bay had to accommodate changes as host of this race.

Adam Martin, representing Northern Michigan, clocked in at 26:33.28 and set the fastest time for the men’s 10K. Martin’s teammate Fredrik Schwencke, who similarly to Martin, decided to only double pole, took second and Lars Sonsterud rounded up the podium occupied by the Wildcats. Tom Bye and Tomi Mikkonen were the top men of Michigan Tech, taking fifth and sixth respectively. Breaking into the top 10 were also Kyle Marshall (8th) from UWGB and Ryan St. Clair skiing for Scholastica (9th).

Northern Michigan also managed to sweep the podium of the women’s 5K. Coming in first was Vivian Hett with a time of 15:36.21 followed by Kristen Bourne (2nd) and Nicole Schneider (3rd). By the difference of a split second put Tech’s Lisa Koenig (6th) outside of the top five. The top woman for St. Scholastica was Kelsey Dickinson (8th) and Green Bay’s women were led by Bree Mucha finishing 11th.

Joe Haggenmiller commented on his team performance: “I thought the Huskies competed hard and skied well. Kudos to Lisa Koenig and Anna Kubek for their top 10s. Same goes out to Tom Bye and Tomi Mikkonen.”

Northern won the team competition with a combined 138 points. Michigan Tech took second with 115 points followed by Scholastica with 100 points, Green Bay with 91 and Saint Cloud with 33.

“I just want to say thank you to all the CCSA teams who competed today at this new venue. Green Bay and the Northwoods Nordic Ski Club is excited to debut this new venue and work to perfect the course and accommodations in anticipation of future NCAA events. The course and venue was well received and provided a variety of challenges to the athletes.” said Steven Teclaw, head coach of University of Wisconsin Green Bay.