Northern Michigan University swept the NCAA Central Region skiing awards for 2015. After dominating the regular season schedule, the Wildcats went on to win the NCAA Central Regionals for both genders, then claimed an individual NCAA championship title and three All-American awards at the 2015 NCAA Skiing Championships. Those achievements landed the Wildcats male and female athletes of the year as well as men’s and women’s coach of the year for head coach, Sten Fjeldheim.

2015 NCAA Central Region Awards
Male Skier of the Year: Fredrik Schwencke, NMU
Female Skier of the Year: Felicia Gesior, NMU
Men’s Coach of the Year: Sten Fjeldheim, NMU
Women’s Coach of the Year: Sten Fjeldheim, NMU

Fjeldheim, who has established and maintained a program that is among the best in NCAA Skiing since taking over the program in 1986, said he was “honored to receive the Regional coach of the year award,” and underscored that it means a lot to him to be voted coach of the year by the region’s tight-knit group of coaches.

The Wildcats men’s team set a high bar for the region and the nation with impressive results at the US National Ski Championships in Houghton, MI, in January. From that point to the final race of the central region schedule, no men’s race was won by any other program when the Wildcats were in attendance. The Wildcat women also won the lion’s share of the team events for the season including the top spot at the NCAA Central Regionals and best performances by Gesior at the NCAA Championships.

Schwencke won every NCAA classic discipline race he entered except the first one of the season where he placed second. It was the final race, however, that put Schwencke in the record books, winning a thrilling four-way sprint finish in the NCAA Championship 20km classic, by 0.6 seconds over Colorado’s defending NCAA 20km mass start champion, Mads Ek Stroem, of Colorado. With that gutsy performance, Schwencke became the sixth Wildcat in program history to win an NCAA Championship individual title.

He was quick to credit his teammates and coaches for making the award possible, saying teammate Kyle Bratrud’s season “was very impressive as well so it must have been a close call” on the skier of the year vote. Bratrud, won the US National Championship 15km freestyle and represented the United States at the World Championships in Falun, Sweden. Schwencke cited a men’s team that “pushed the limits every single day at practice” and a coaching staff that did “everything right to make sure we performed at the highest possible level with top fitness and top skis.” He particularly thanked outgoing Norwegian assistant coach, Haakon Banerud, as being a big reason why he came to NMU from Norway.

According to coach Fjeldheim, Schwencke had to reduce his training over the summer to accommodate a tonsil surgery. “He trained diligently this fall knowing that he had lost some training base this summer,” said Fjeldheim. But it is Schwencke’s competitive savvy that Fjeldheim feels set him apart this season. “I feel that his biggest strength is his ability to race,” said Fjeldheim. As his dramatic NCAA Championship victory proved, Schwencke “is a very focused and smart competitor. He has a good head for racing,” according to Fjeldheim.

Gesior took her skiing to a new level in 2015, and she was recognized by the region for her efforts. Gesior emerged as the leader of the Wildcat women’s efforts among a team with incredible depth. She used consistency in both techniques to earn her first trip to the NCAA Championships where she was the top central region performer, finishing 16th in the 5km freestyle and 13th in the 15km classic mass start.

Gesior expressed gratitude for the honor, and said that it was “a great surprise on top of a wonderful season.” She credited her great personal season to the work of her coaches and being on a great team. “I want them to know how thankful I am for their hard work and for always pushing me.”
Coach Fjeldheim noted that Gesior “focused her training a little more this past summer and it showed,” adding that she also learned this season how to “go for it…and live with the results.” He underscored that Gesior’s performance was quite strong for her first NCAA Championship appearance.

Northern Michigan’s Fredrik Schwencke was crowned NCAA Champion, winning the men’s 20 kilometer mass start classic race on Friday in bold fashion, while NMU’s Felicia Gesior led the CCSA women, taking 13th in the women’s 15 kilometer event.

The men’s race began with Northern Michigan’s Kyle Bratrud skiing at the front of the race in bib number one. Fredrik Schwencke was originally assigned the leading bib, but after Schwencke reported feeling some cold symptoms, Northern Michigan Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim decided to have Schwencke exchange his number one bib for Bratrud’s number nine.

“That irritated him,” chuckled Fjeldheim. “It made him mad enough to want to come out and maybe make a point to me that he should have been bib number one.” With nine starting lanes, Schwencke still enjoyed a good position at the start and the bib number was more symbolic than a strategic advantage. Fjeldheim defended the decision to switch bibs, saying, “I think it took the pressure off of Freddy a little bit. He was a little under the weather, but I told him you don’t need your nose and throat to ski.”

The race began briskly, and as the racers skied through the stadium after their first 5 kilometer lap it was Bratrud and Schwencke leading the pack. As the pace increased in the second lap, Bratrud and his teammate Erik Soderman stayed toward the back of the leading pack of around 12 skiers, while Schwencke remained just behind the leaders.

Nearing the end of the third loop Bratrud crashed, skidding off the trail and into the powder. “Erik [Soderman] said he skied by him while [Bratrud] was sliding sideways and said he thought to himself, ‘I just hope he doesn’t hit a tree,’” Fjeldheim said.

Nevertheless, Bratrud quickly recovered from his setback and, Fjeldheim said, “within a kilometer or so he was back in the top ten.”

Heading through the stadium on the final lap of the race, there were just four men in the lead: Aku Nikander of New Mexico, who led much of the final lap; and a pair of skiers from the University of Colorado, Mads Ek Stroem and Rune Malo Oedegaard. NMU’s Schwencke skied most of the final lap in third place, appearing relaxed and skiing smoothly through the relentless climbing of the Mt. Van Hoevenberg trails.

“He skied really smart,” said Fjeldheim. “He didn’t take the lead, and he didn’t have to. He had good skis, solid wax, and he played it conservatively on the first three laps. Towards the end of the last lap he realized he had a chance to win.”

As the four skiers entered the stadium with some 300 meters left in the race, Schwencke deftly switched lanes, powerfully double poling between the two tracks to take the lead in the optimal position. It was a well-timed and well-executed move that won him the race as much as his determined sprint that began as soon as he found himself in the lead.

“There was a little bit of diagonal striding,” Fjeldheim said of Schwencke as he crested a slight rise that led into the finishing lane. “Then he had a really strong double pole into the finish.”

A thrilled Schwencke crossed the finish line in first, winning his first NCAA title, and the first for NMU since Soderman won the freestyle title in 2012. He appeared to be almost in disbelief at the finish line, before NMU assistant coach Haakon Stuge Baanerud lifted the triumphant Schwencke on his shoulders.

“Freddy was happily surprised,” Fjeldheim said. “Personally I wasn’t surprised. I knew that all three could do it, I just didn’t know who it would be.”

Bratrud finished 7th, and Soderman took 11th, just 3 seconds away from tenth. “I’m really happy with his race,” said Fjeldheim. The efforts of the NMU trio won them the men’s Nordic team title. “A great day for the Wildcats,” said Fjeldheim. “We’ve got the best men’s team in the country, I’m pretty dang proud.”

Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks skied to 20th place, while St. Olaf’s Jake Brown finished in 28th. “I thought he skied a smart race,” said St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson. “It just shows how far he’s come in classic this season.”

Paul Schommer of St. Scholastica finished in 29th. Schommer noticed a ski mix up shortly before the race and the Saints coaching staff worked at top speed to fully prepare his skis in time for the start. “Miraculously, we got it done,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela.

Schommer worked his way up the field, skiing in 22nd position heading into the long climb on the final lap when his kick wax, which hadn’t had time to set up properly, began to wear off and he slipped back into 29th. “Paul simply changed Saints skiing,” said Salmela. “He came so far so fast.”

Michigan Tech’s Thomas Bye finished 32nd, a result that pleased Joe Haggenmiller, Head Coach of Michigan Tech. “Tom being a freshman, a true freshman, it’s another level when you come to NCAAs,” said Haggenmiller. “Just to beat one or two guys is an accomplishment. So I was pretty happy with how Tom raced. We’ll look forward to next year with the experience he’s gained from World Juniors in Kazakhstan and now NCAAs.”

Fellow Michigan Tech teammate Haakon Hjelstuen finished in 34th, and Haggenmiller praised the Norwegian’s perseverance. “Haakon was battling pretty hard. His lower back was bothering him quite badly this week, and he said his legs just wouldn’t respond.” Despite the pain, Hjelstuen soldiered on. At the end of the third lap he was near the tail end of the race but a big push on the final lap saw him move up the results list. “I’m really glad he battled,” said Haggenmiller. “He was able to outsprint a couple of guys at the finish.”

Jonas Löffler of Alaska Fairbanks rounded out the CCSA men, finishing in 39th.

Felicia Gesior led the CCSA women in the final Nordic event of the NCAA Championships, taking 13th in the 15 kilometer classic event with a time of 49:43.7. “Amazing finish for Felicia,” said Fjeldheim. “It’s her first NCAAs, she showed today that she’s got what it takes.”

Kristen Bourne of NMU skied to 17th. “Today she started relaxed and kept working her way up, moving up, and up, and up,” Fjeldheim said. “She’s just a gutsy Minnesota girl, she toughed it out and skied a really smart race.”

Anita Kirvesniemi of St. Scholastica finished 18th, just edging Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin by a tenth of a second in a closely contested sprint to the finish. “It went solid,” said Salmela. “She was hoping for more, but it wasn’t a bad race. She skied really well.”

Deedra Irwin of Michigan Tech took 19th. “She skied fantastic, she skied hard,” said Haggenmiller. “The competition level at NCAAs is high: to make the top half of the field takes five years of hard work.”

In 27th for Michigan Tech was Alice Flanders. “I’m really a lot more excited at her 27th in classic than her 21st in skate,” Haggenmiller said. “I think she really skied well, some of the best classic skiing she’s skied. It was fun to see her battling out there.”

Both Flanders and Irwin are seniors at Michigan Tech and Haggenmiller toasted their final race for the Huskies. “I’m really proud of Alice and Deedra, I think they battled hard which is important for our region, and I think they went out on a day they can be proud of to finish their college careers.”

Sharmila Ahmed of St. Scholastica skied to 29th. “She skied really, really well, especially considering she had a cold all week,” Salmela said. “She started slow and conservative and then started to pick people off.” Salmela added that, “the impact of both [Kirvesniemi and Ahmed] is profound on the trajectory and history of this ski team.”

Jordyn Ross of NMU took 36th, and Anne-Tine Markset of the University of Alaska Fairbanks finished in 38th.

The classic race at Mt. Van Hoevenberg concludes the racing season for the CCSA athletes.

Full results can be found at www.barttiming.com

 

The NCAA Skiing Championships got underway Wednesday in Lake Placid, New York, with the individual start freestyle race. With temperatures approaching 40 degrees under humid and overcast skies, ski selection proved to be a critical element in the race, favoring those who had a pair of skis with a structure suited to the warm and wet snow—unusual conditions for skiers from the central region.

NMU’s Kyle Bratrud led the CCSA men, skiing to 7th place in the 10 kilometer freestyle race with a time of 26:22.3. “Kyle had strong start,” said NMU Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim, “but he didn’t get the result he wanted.”

“He’s still a little fatigued from Europe,” Fjeldheim said. Bratrud’s season saw him compete at both the U-23 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan and the Nordic World Championships in Falun, Sweden. “It was a good race considering the traveling he’s done. It was a respectable race, got to be happy with it.”

Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks took 12th overall. “Logan had a good race,” said Alaska Fairbanks Interim Head Coach Christina Turman. “Sometimes you have a good race and you feel great, other times you have a good race and you have to fight, and Logan definitely fought today.”

Hanneman finished just 3.6 seconds out of tenth place. “It’s a little tough when you’re so close to making All-American,” Turman said, “but it was his best freestyle race at NCAA’s.”

Erik Soderman of NMU was 15th. “All-in-all Erik’s result is good,” said Fjeldheim. NMU’s Fredrik Schwencke, who “isn’t a 100%,” said Fjeldheim, finished 30th.

Paul Schommer of St. Scholastica finished 31st. “Paul told me ‘it could have been better, it could have been worse,’” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela.

“I think it’s hard to be happy with 31st when you’ve been 15th and 8th in the freestyle event historically, so I think Paul has handled that obvious disappointment well,” said Salmela. “But I think Paul gave his best today with where he is and he should feel no remorse for doing everything he could do today. He raced smart, listened to his body, and this was what he was capable of today.”

Tom Bye of Michigan Tech skied to 35th, a result that Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller commended. “He was battling out there, and turned out something respectable,” said Haggenmiller. “For a freshman to come out here and beat a few people is great.”

Jake Brown of St. Olaf finished 36th. “He had a pretty high place in mind for today, so he started fast,” said St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson. Brown skied through the stadium after his first 5 kilometer loop in 27th position. “Midway through his second lap he sort of blew up,” Jorgenson said. “He didn’t finish where he wanted to, but I’m really proud of the way he skied today, he left everything out there.”

Jonas Löffler of Alaska Fairbanks took 38th, and Haakon Hjelstuen of Michigan Tech finished 40th, his race hampered in part by the wrong choice in skis for the day.

Leading the CCSA women in the 5 kilometer freestyle race was Jordyn Ross of NMU in 12th. Ross skied the course in 14:54.7, a tantalizing 4.3 seconds away from tenth, and with it the title of All-American. “Jordyn’s a senior and she wanted to be an All-American so bad,” Fjeldheim said, “and this was the race she was really aiming for.”

Fjeldheim praised Ross’s skiing career at NMU, “to start skiing as a junior in high school, and to come from where she did as a freshman is a great accomplishment.”

NMU’s Felicia Gesior skied to 16th place. “Felicia gets the skier of the day award for our team,” said Fjeldheim, “she had a really solid race.”

Alice Flanders of Michigan Tech was 21st. “Alice left it all out on the course,” said Haggenmiller. “She raced really well through 2.5 or 3 k.” Flanders skied the first half of the race in the top ten before tiring late in the race.

Sharmila Ahmed of St. Scholastica was 23rd, while her teammate Anita Kirvesniemi finished in 29th. Salmela was pleased that both results were better than the school’s previous best result of 36th, set by Ahmed in 2013.

“Sharmila skied so well especially since she hadn’t skied for four straight days prior to yesterday, just because she was fighting low energy with cold symptoms. If you consider that, 23rd is amazing and I’m so proud of her. On the flip side, it only begs the question ‘what if,’ had she been fully 100% health wise. I think she managed the situation like a pro.”

“If I could come up with a course and conditions that would be the absolute worst for Anita [Kirvesniemi] in a 5 k skate,” said Salmela, “today was pretty close to it…When you take in all the factors, Anita’s 29th is alright with me. I’m very satisfied and think she is right where we want to be for Friday.”

Anne-Tine Markset of Alaska Fairbanks was 25th overall, and the fifth CCSA woman. “It was a solid result for her, I’m really happy for her,” said Turman. “It was one of her better races of the season.”

NMU’s Kristen Bourne took 35th. “Kristen faded a bit, she may be fatigued from Europe,” Fjeldheim said, referring to Bourne’s participation at the World Junior Championships in February.

Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin took 37th, skiing “relatively well through 2 or 3 k,” said Haggenmiller, before she tired late in the race.

The NCAA Skiing Championships continue on Friday March 13th at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Nordic Center in Lake Placid, New York. The women’s 15 kilometer classic mass start race will begin at 10:00 am EST, and the men’s 20 kilometer classic mass start will begin at noon EST. All races will be streamed live at NCAA.com

 

Full results at www.barttiming.com

 

 

Northern Michigan Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim and St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela have been selected CCSA Coaches of the Year; Fjeldheim for the men’s team, and Salmela for the women’s. The award is voted on by all the CCSA coaches.

Chad Salmela and the St. Scholastica women’s team enjoyed a great season of skiing this year. “I think we knew coming into the season that we had an opportunity for a good year,” said Salmela. “But you never know for sure–sport is sport.”

“This was arguably our strongest year ever,” Salmela said. “Our CCSA regular season was spectacular. We worked really hard to get where we are now; there were a lot of challenges, so I think this is a nod to the work we’ve done.”

Salmela credited the success of his team this year to consistent performances at races and the depth of his team. “They had really consistently good results. Anita [Kirvesniemi] had two wins, Sharmila [Ahmed] had a few podiums, and we were CCSA Champs, and that wasn’t an easy task.”

“I also think that the depth of our team really showed,” said Salmela, who cited the efforts of senior Liz Peterson, sophomore Ellie Evans, and freshman Allison Ternes as being an important part of the team’s success over the season in securing the CCSA Championship Title, and winning the CCSA Championship relay.

“It goes down in my mind as one of the best teams we’ve ever had…it’s a special year for us.”

Sten Fjeldheim has much to be proud about his men’s team this year. “It’s one of the best team’s we’ve had in Northern Michigan in a long time,” said Fjeldheim. “I think it compares to the era of Chris Cook and Pete Vordenberg when they were competitive at Nationals and were going to the Olympics.”

Fjeldheim praised the way his men’s team conducted themselves over the year. “I think they really supported each other in a positive way,” said Fjeldheim. “They pushed each other in intensity sessions, and they trained a lot.”

“They’re all just really into it, they all want to be the best they can be. They didn’t make excuses, and there was no negativity, towards the weather, or anything.”

“They were super positive, fun to coach, and professional. They were light hearted, and laughed a lot. They were serious when they needed to be, but they had a lot of fun training together and enjoyed it. It was a fun group to be around.”

“They really paid attention to details. When you’re training a lot and when everyone’s training a lot, one of the things that separates skiers is paying attention to the details. Eating right, getting enough sleep, timing your recovery, stretching, watching technique videos, monitoring heart rates—they made all of that a normal thing.”

“It’s a super year. I have a lot of respect for these guys.”