It was a green and gold final day of the CCSA season, as Northern Michigan not only saw two of their skiers — George Cartwright and Rosie Frankowski — top the podium in both the men’s 15K and women’s 10K mass start freestyle events, but the Wildcats also swept the men’s, women’s and overall team titles at the NCAA Central Region Championships in Houghton, Mich.

“It was a great team effort,” Northern Michigan head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “We’ve got everyone healthy, had good skis, so everything worked out. I think it says a lot about our team depth on both sides: everyone really pushes one another to get better.”

There was plenty of pressure in the build-up to Sunday’s start, since the races represented the final chance for CCSA skiers to improve their standing in the regional points list and stake their claim for a coveted spot at the NCAA Championships next month.

Cartwright, however, refused to be rattled and skied an intelligent, composed race, sticking within the lead pack for the first couple laps before teaming with the redshirting Erik Soderman to pull away in the final 5K. Cartwright would finish as the top collegiate skier with his time of 40:57.9 to successfully defend his NCAA Central Region skate title from last year.

“It takes a lot to rattle George’s cage,” Fjeldheim said. “He’s at his best when he can sit with the pack and then take off at the end. He’s always been a good skate skier and a good sprinter, so he’s tough to beat when he does that. It was really fun, as a coach, to watch a fifth-year senior go out and win regionals today.”

Fellow Wildcat Kyle Bratrud was next across the line, the in-form skier earning his second podium spot of the weekend with a second-place finish in 41:19.7. St. Scholastica junior Paul Schommer collected the bronze podium spot, finishing third in 41:21.0. A pair of Alaska skiers, Michael Fehrenbach and Logan Hanneman, were next across the line; Fehrenbach taking fourth in 41:22.5, while Hanneman just edged the Wildcats’ Fredrik Schwencke across the line by seven-tenths of a second.

Schwencke, Northern Michigan’s third scoring skier, took sixth in 41:24.3, followed closely by teammate Adam Martin in seventh. St. Olaf’s Jake Brown produced a solid performance to take eighth and boost his chances of NCAA qualification with his time of 41:28.8, while Michigan Tech’s Matt Dugan and Kyle Hanson rounded out the top ten.

On the women’s side, the rest of the CCSA field had no answer for Frankowski. The senior from Minneapolis, Minn. set the pace early, then pulled away on the second lap before eventually cruising to a 38-second victory. Frankowski has now won back-to-back mass start skate events since returning from the U23 World Championships last month.

“Having Rosie back has just given our whole team a boost of confidence — I think she decided to see just how fast she could ski in that second lap today,” Fjeldheim laughed.

St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed turned in one of her best performances of the season on Sunday, earning a regional silver medal with her time of 33:00.9 — good enough for second place. Northern Michigan’s Hannah Boyer wrapped up a solid weekend for herself as well, landing her second third place finish and second podium spot in as many days by taking third in 33:07.4.

St. Olaf’s Paige Schember strengthened her case for an NCAA berth with her fourth-place finish on Sunday, followed closely by Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders, another skier who will be eyeing the points lists earnestly when the final standings are announced later this month. Northern Michigan’s Mary Kate Cirelli took sixth to wrap up the scoring for the Wildcats, and St. Scholastica’s Sarah Allen wrapped up a solid season for herself with a seventh-place finish. Alaska’s Nichole Bathe, Northern Michigan’s Kristen Bourne and Alaska’s Aly McPhetres complete the women’s top ten.

Sunday’s results mean that Northern Michigan successfully overturned the three-point deficit they faced on the men’s side after yesterday’s classic event. The Wildcats leapfrogged Alaska to claim the men’s team title by seven points, 129 to 122. St. Scholastica took third with 93 points.

It was a similar story on the women’s side, with the Wildcats’ women taking the crown with 128 total points for the weekend, topping second place St. Scholastica (109 points) and third-place Alaska (99 points) by a comfortable margin.

With the CCSA season now behind them, the region’s student-athletes now can do nothing but wait for the final points to be tallied and the official selections for next month’s NCAA Championships to be announced. The Central Region will send seven men and six women to this year’s national championships, to be held at Soldier Hollow Resort in Midway, Utah on March 6 and 8.

For complete results from today’s events, including team scores, please visit www.superiortiming.com.

Alaska’s Nichole Bathe and Northern Michigan’s Kyle Bratrud captured the Central Region crowns in the women’s 5K and men’s 10K individual start classic events, respectively, to kick off the regional championships in Houghton, Mich. In near perfect skiing conditions, the Nanooks and Wildcats combined to occupy all six podium spots (three apiece) on the afternoon, meaning that Alaska heads into final day of the NCAA Central Region Championships with a three-point lead on the men’s side, while the Northern Michigan women hold an eight-point edge heading into Sunday.

Having missed the CCSA Championships in order to represent the U.S. Ski Team at the World Junior Championships last month, Bathe showed her experience in Italy paid dividends, dominating the field at the Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center. Despite only seeing the course for the first time at 5 p.m. Friday evening, thanks to a cancelled flight and some misplaced equipment, the freshman kept her nerve and sailed to a 15-second victory, completing her 5K in 17:14.4.

“Nichole had a long travel day yesterday, plus she’d never even raced here before, so that would have thrown a lot of people off,” Alaska head coach Scott Jerome said. “But she took it in stride, didn’t get stressed at all and performed really well.”

Though Bathe took the top spot, the other two podium positions went to Northern Michigan, as Rosie Frankowski took second with her time of 17:30.0 and Hannah Boyer staked her claim for an NCAA berth — an increasingly competitive appointment on the women’s side of the region — with her third-place finish.

St. Scholastica’s Sarah Allen continues to find her top form at the right time, impressing with a fourth-place finish on Saturday with her time of 17:56.9. St. Olaf’s Paige Schember collected her second straight top-five finish as well, placing less than a second behind Allen.

St. Scholastica’s second scoring skier, Anita Kirvesniemi, took sixth place, helping the Saints into second on the women’s side on the day, after just edging out Northern Michigan’s Felicia Gesior by seven-tenths of a second. Alice Flanders (Michigan Tech), Mary Kate Cirelli (NMU) and Ulrika Axelsson rounded out the women’s top ten.

On the men’s side, Bratrud ended Alaska’s Logan Hanneman’s two-race winning streak by collecting his third CCSA win of the season. Bratrud, currently the top-ranked men’s skier on the CCSA points list and looking a likely shoo-in for an NCAA berth next month, bested Hanneman by just 1.9 seconds in an intriguing battle between two of the region’s most in-form skiers.

Though forced to settle for second place, Hanneman would receive some consolation in seeing a pair of teammates finishing directly behind him in the standings. Alaska’s Michael Fehrenbach battled through an illness to take the bronze position with his time of 30:02.2, leading early in the race before eventually falling behind the top two. Max Olex then turned in arguably his most impressive race of the season, taking fourth in 30:37.8 in an impressive display of depth from the Nanooks.

“I was so proud of our men’s team today,” Jerome said. “Max really stepped up today, and even though he wasn’t feeling well, Michael fought for the good of the team as well. But it was more than just them – all of our guys (Kenneth Brewer, Isaac Lammers and Jonas Loffler) gave it all they had today.”

A trio of Northern Michigan skiers posted the next fastest times, with George Cartwright (5th), Adam Martin (6th) and Fredrik Schwencke (7th) all finishing within 2.3 seconds of one another. St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer took eighth in 30:57.7., while his teammates John Wessling and Chris Parr rounded out the top ten.

The results mean that the Northern Michigan women finish the day with 63 points, eight points ahead of St. Scholastica (55 points) and 12 ahead of Alaska (51). Michigan Tech sits fourth on 45 points.

Things are even tighter on the men’s side, with Alaska’s 66 points giving them just a three-point cushion over Northern Michigan. St. Scholastica sits third with 51 points.

The CCSA skiers head back to the Nordic Training Center course tomorrow for a vital mass start skate event, with a 15K on tap for the men and a 10K scheduled for the women. Not only will the regional titles be decided, but the two races also represent the final NCAA qualifiers for the region’s competitors.

“It’s high pressure, but we just try to keep things as normal as possible,” Jerome said. “This is what you’ve been preparing for months and months. But its a lot of fun, regionals is one of my favorites events of the year. It really is a nice capstone to the season.”

For full results, including team scores, please visit http://www.superiortiming.com/.

An impressive display of depth saw hosts Northern Michigan capture the men’s, women’s and overall team titles at the CCSA Championships in Ishpeming, Mich. The Wildcats’ Rosie Frankowski and Mary Kate Cirelli teamed up to pull away from the rest of the field to capture the top two spots in the women’s 15K mass start skate race, while Kyle Bratrud and Fredrik Schwencke took silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s 20K event. Alaska’s Logan Hanneman captured his second individual title of the weekend, edging Bratrud in the men’s race to boost the Nanooks to second in the men’s and overall team standings.

“Our team really came together today and showed our depth, and that’s critical to winning team events,” Northern Michigan head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “I think we were just tired and needed a little bit of a break after Senior Nationals, so we got some good rest and good training last weekend, and everyone really responded well to that.”

Having raced a limited CCSA schedule this season after competing for the U.S. Ski Team at the U23 World Championships, Frankowski showed she hadn’t missed a beat, combining well with teammate Cirelli to set the pace early and put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field. The duo never looked back, with Frankowski claiming her second win of the CCSA season. Cirelli, finishing just under two seconds behind her teammate, earned her second podium spot of the CCSA Championships, having won the women’s classic race on Saturday.

“I wasn’t 100 percent sure about Rosie racing today, but she talked me into it,” Fjeldheim said afterwards. “She skied a really solid race and never really redlined it. And having her up there was good for Mary Kate as well – her and Rosie really feed off each other.”

St. Olaf’s Paige Schember turned in arguably her finest race of the season, earning her first podium spot with a third-place finish in 36:38.5. St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed, an NCAA qualifier last season, looks to get back in the hunt this season as well, earning a fourth-place finish at the Al Quaal Recreation Area on Sunday. Northern Michigan’s third skier, Hannah Boyer, crossed the line in fifth, meaning all three of the Wildcats’ scorers finished in a top-five position.

Green Bay’s Kailey Mucha was next across the line; her pace of 37:06.3 good for sixth-place, followed closely by a pair of Michigan Tech competitors – Alice Flanders wrapping up seventh in 37:09.5 and Deedra Irwin eighth just under five seconds later. Alaska’s Aly McPhetres and Heather Edic rounded off the top ten.

On the men’s side, it was a bit of deja vu from Saturday’s classic race as Hanneman, Bratrud and Schwencke all occupied the same podium spots Sunday as they did 24 hours earlier. Sticking with a lead pack of around eight skiers for most of the race, Hanneman made his move at the final climb, eventually edging NMU’s Bratrud by 1.4 seconds to claim his second CCSA Championships title.

Bratrud, in turn, held off teammate Schwencke by five-tenths of a second to take silver: his sixth straight podium finish. Freshman Schwencke continues his late charge for an NCAA spot with his third-place finish, completing his four laps around the 5K track in 40:25.

“Fredrik had his best skate race of the year today,” Fjeldheim said. “His strength is his classic skiing, so it was good to see him up there today.”

St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer returns to the top five with a fourth-place result on Sunday, while St. Olaf’s top skier on the day, Jake Brown, took fifth. All told, only 6.2 seconds separated the top five positions.

Alaska’s Michael Fehrenbach was next across the line, capturing sixth in 40:45.9, with George Cartwright not far behind in seventh (40:48.2). A pair of Michigan Tech Huskies, Raphael Bechtiger and Matt Dugan, along with Green Bay’s Matthew Nichols rounded out the top ten on the men’s side.

Sunday results meant that Northern Michigan comfortably captured the women’s team title; its 133 points nearly 40 better than second-place St. Scholastica’s, who finished on 95. Michigan Tech took third with 92 points. A little bit tighter on the men’s side, however, though Northern’s 129 points ensured it again took the top spot, ahead of Alaska (118) and St. Scholastica (96). The Wildcats’ combined score of 262 was more than enough to wrap up the overall team title, with Alaska second on 201 points and St. Scholastica third on 191.

The CCSA skiers now head to Houghton, Mich. for the NCAA Central Region Championships and the final two NCAA qualifiers on Feb. 15-16. For full results and team scores from today’s event, please see http://my1.raceresult.com/details/index.php?page=4&eventid=24797&lang=en.

Hosts Northern Michigan heads into the final day of the CCSA championships with the team lead on both the men’s and women’s side following the first day of action at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, Mich. Alaska’s Logan Hanneman dominated the men’s 10K interval start classic, but NMU took the next three spots to open up a four-point advantage over the Nanooks. The Wildcats then went 1-2 in the women’s 5K event, with Mary Kate Cirelli and Hannah Boyer posting the top two times, to give them a comfortable 16-point advantage on the women’s side.

With cold (single-digit) but steady temperatures, sunshine and no wind, the weather played little role in determining today’s races, and Hanneman took advantage of the ideal conditions to claim his first CCSA win and an individual title. Described by his head coach, Scott Jerome, as a typically conservative starter, the junior put the hammer down early and never let up, scorching the 10K course in 20:17.8 — 29 seconds better than his nearest CCSA competitor.

“He had a game plan from the get-go,” Jerome said. “He felt good, was confident in his body and confident in his skis, so he just went for it. Sometimes those plans don’t work out, but today it did, and it was excited to see.”

A pair of Northern Michigan skiers joined Hanneman on the podium: Kyle Bratrud’s time of 20:46.8 good enough to earn the silver for the junior, while teammate and freshman sensation Fredrik Schwencke strengthened his case for an NCAA place with a third-place finish.

The Wildcats George Cartwright was next across the line, meaning all three of Northern Michigan’s scoring skiers placed in the top four.

“Usually, going 1-5-7 as we [Alaska] did today is enough to win you a meet,” Jerome said, “but not when someone else goes 2-3-4.”

Alaska’s Michael Fehrenbach earned a top-five finish with his time of 21:11.9, despite admittedly skiing at less than 100 percent. St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer placed sixth; the junior completing his 10K in 21:15.9. Another Nanook, Max Olex, continued his string of three straight top-tens in CCSA events in which Alaska attends by taking seventh in 21:18.1.

“I was really pleased with how Max raced today,” Jerome said. “He’s coming off of an injury just before Thanksgiving that set him back, but he’s just been steadily making progress and improving every race. He’s a man on a mission to get to Utah [to the NCAA championships].”

A trio of St. Scholastica skier rounded out the men’s top ten, with John Wessling taking eighth, Chris Parr ninth and Scott Johanik 10th.

On the women’s side, it was all Northern Michigan, as Cirelli cruised to her first CCSA title. The sophomore showed why she is one of the region’s top skiers in the classic tracks, finishing her 5K loop in 11:48.3 to top the field by a full 21 seconds.

Cirelli’s nearest competitor was also wearing green and gold, as teammate Hannah Boyer landed second place, as well as valuable points toward an NCAA berth in an increasingly competitive women’s field, with her time of 12:09.6. St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi earned a podium spot as well, forced to settle for third after her time was just three-tenths of a second behind Boyer’s pace.

Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin took fourth in 12:15.6. to earn her team’s top spot, while St. Olaf’s Paige Schember finished fifth in 12:23.5. Felicia Gesior rounded out the scoring for Northern Michigan; her sixth-place finish wrapping up the classical crown for the Wildcats.

Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson earned seventh place with her time of 12:32.2., just ahead of St. Scholastica’s Sarah Allen – the reigning CCSA women’s skier of the week boosting her NCAA credentials with her eighth-place finish Saturday. Alaska’s Aly McPhetres and Green Bay’s Kailey Mucha rounded out the top 10 on a fast and competitive day of racing on the women’s side, as only 36 seconds separated second place from 15th.

The CCSA Championships will be decided tomorrow as the starting gun for the women’s 15K mass start skate sounds at 10:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow, followed by the men’s 20K skate. For complete results from today’s races, please visit http://www.superiortiming.com/2014/02/ccsa-championships-2014/.

Impressive individual performances from Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders and St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer saw the two juniors top the podium in the women’s 5K freestyle and the men’s 10K freestyle, respectively, in bitterly cold conditions at Mt. Itasca in Coleraine, Minn. Flanders has now taken the top spot in the last two CCSA skate races – both by substantial margins as well – while Schommer earned the Saints’ second win of the weekend, following teammate Sarah Allen’s victory Friday.

After winning the freestyle event at the Telemark Chase last weekend by more than 37 seconds, Flanders fared even better on Saturday despite racing at sub-zero (-2 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures, crossing the line a full 42 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

“Alice has been skiing really well the last couple of weeks,” Michigan Tech head coach Joe Haggenmiller said afterwards. “She’s just a natural skater. She’s been on the bad side of the [NCAA qualifying] bubble a couple of times in her career already, so hopefully she can get to NCAAs this year and have a performance like this there.”

Northern Michigan’s Felicia Gesior turned in one of the best performances of her Wildcat career to date, capturing second place with her time of 15:19.6. Teammate Mary Kate Cirelli wasn’t far behind, earning her spot on the podium with a time of 15:22.6.

Michigan Tech’s second-scoring skier, Lynn Duijndam, just missed joining teammate Flanders on the podium, eventually settling for fourth place after crossing the line just eight-tenths of a second behind Cirelli.

“Lynn is another natural skater of ours,” Haggenmiller said. “She’s been battling some acid reflux issues this year, so we were excited she was able to hang in there and do well today.”

Gustavus Adolphus skier Marian Lund earned her school’s first top-five finish of the season, taking fifth after crossing the line in 15:23.7. Paige Schember turned in the top performance for the St. Olaf women by capturing sixth in 15:27.3, with St. Scholatica’s Sarah Allen not too far behind, in seventh. Gustavus’ Marit Sonnesyn, Northern Michigan’s Kristen Bourne and Green Bay’s Kailey Mucha rounded out the top ten.

On the men’s side, the consistent Schommer made it five straight podium finishes in a row with his win on Saturday. Like Flanders, the St. Scholastica skier enjoyed a comfortable margin of victory as well, finishing more than 24 seconds ahead of the next competitor.

Other than Schommer, Northern Michigan dominated the podium positions, with George Cartwright taking silver with his time of 25:17.6 and teammate Kyle Bratrud crossing the line soon after to earn his second podium spot of the weekend. St. Olaf’s Jake Brown continued his push for an NCAA berth this season; the junior finshed fourth at Mt. Itasca with his time of 25:41.1, while Northern Michigan freshman Fredrik Schwencke continued to impress as well, earning fifth place just a second and a half behind Brown.

Green Bay’s Matthew Nichols time of 26:41.2 meant the junior earned his team’s top spot and sixth place overall: his best finish of the young season. Michigan Tech’s Raphael Bechtiger took seventh place (also his team’s top finish), just ahead of St. Scholastica’s John Wessling in eighth. Bechtiger’s teammate, Matt Wong, continued his solid season for the Huskies with a ninth-place finish Saturday, while NMU’s Sam Elfstrom took tenth.

“Matt just continues to improve every year,” Haggenmiller said. “He’s made huge strides from where he started with us as a freshman. And its good to see Raphael working his way back into being competitive too [after being sick earlier in the year.]”

With Saturday’s results, Northern Michigan took home the overall team title for the weekend, finishing with 287 points, ahead of St. Scholastica (255 points) and Michigan Tech (247 points). The Wildcats earned both freestyle titles on Saturday as well, taking the men’s event with 74 points to top St. Scholastica (64 points) and Michigan Tech (58 points), and the women’s event with 70 points to edge Michigan Tech (68) and Gustavus Adolphus College (54).

The CCSA skiers now enjoy a well-earned weekend off before heading to the CCSA Championships on Feb. 8-9.

For complete results, please visit http://www.boreal.org/~durfee/mt_itasca_jnq_1_25_14.pdf.

St. Scholastica senior Sarah Allen claimed a landmark win for her program in the women’s 5K classic, and Kyle Bratrud earned his second straight CCSA victory in the men’s 10K classic at Mt. Itasca to kick off the region’s third NCAA qualifier. Amazingly, Bratrud becomes just the first two-time winner for the CCSA this season, while Allen’s win was the first victory in Saints history in an event whose field included traditional powerhouses Northern Michigan or Alaska.

“[Former St. Scholastica skier] Jeremy [Hecker] won one before,” Saints head coach Chad Salmela said, “but neither UAF or Northern Michigan were in the field that day, so that gets an asterisk.”

A consistent and reliable skier for the Saints, Allen led by a full eight seconds at the 3.5K mark, and held on through the final downhill section to complete her 5K in 16:09.1: good for a 2.5 second victory and her first trip to the top of the podium.

“Sarah is supremely fit; I’d be surprised if there’s anyone in the CCSA with a better engine than she’s got,” Salmela said. “We’ve worked really hard on her technique and confidence, so I knew things like this were possible.”

St. Scholastica teammate Anita Kirvesniemi earned her first CCSA podium spot as well, finishing just behind Allen in 16:11.6. The one-two finish for the Saints’ teammates helped boost them to the top of the team standings for the event, besting Northern Michigan by four points.

“I think you’re always a little surprised to go one-two, but I knew both Sarah and Anita were capable of doing what they did today, so I wasn’t floored by it,” Salmela said. “It’s pretty exciting for our program.”

Michigan Tech skier Lisa König landed her first career podium spot as well, taking the bronze after completing her trip through the Mt. Itasca course in 16:18.7.

A pair of Northern Michigan Wildcats were next across the line, with Mary Kate Cirelli earning fourth place by just edging out teammate Felicia Gesior by three-tenths of a second.

St. Olaf’s top skier, Paige Schember, took sixth, with her 16:23.2, while Kailey Mucha’s time of 16:24.3 put her into seventh place. NMU’s Hannah Boyer, Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson and St. Scholastica’s third scoring skier, Sharmila Ahmed, rounded out the top 10.

On the men’s side, Bratrud looks likely to leap to the top of the CCSA points list with an impressive performance on Friday. The junior’s time of 26:46.0 handed him a 13.8 second margin of victory.

Teammate Fredrik Schwencke was second across the line, as the Wildcats went one-two on the men’s side. St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer earned his fourth podium place in as many races, capturing bronze with his time of 27:10.3.

Schommer’s teammate, Chris Parr, had a breakout race of his own on Friday, taking fourth place in the event and just missing out on his first ever podium spot with his time of 27:15.8.

“Chris Parr had the race of the day for us on the men’s side,” Salmela said. “He’s was on fire for the last 2K of that race. He’s always been a fast starter, so it was good to see him use his energy intelligently and tactically race the 10K.”

Northern Michigan’s George Cartwright completed the scoring for the Wildcats, taking fifth in 27:17.5, while Matt Wong earned sixth place and the top men’s finish for his Michigan Tech team.

St. Scholastica’s third skier, John Wessling, placed seventh with his time of 27:43.8, and Jay Woodbeck (Michigan Tech), Matthew Nichols (Green Bay) and Kyle Hanson (Michigan Tech) completed the region’s top ten.

With Friday’s results on the women’s side, the team scores saw St. Scholastica finish with 77 points, just ahead of Northern Michigan’s 73 points, while Michigan Tech was third with 67. On the men’s side, Northern Michigan’s 84 points gives them a five-point advantage over the Saints, on 79 points, with Michigan Tech again third with 66.

The CCSA student-athletes finish their stay at Mt. Itasca on Saturday, with a 5K/10K freestyle event.