The 17 men and women that will represent the Central Region at the 2015 NCAA Skiing Championships have been officially announced by the National Collegiate Association’s skiing committee. The Championships will take place on March 11th and 13th in Lake Placid, New York.

Northern Michigan leads the CCSA representation at the NCAA Championships with a full allotment of six skiers. Michigan Tech will send four, Alaska Fairbanks and St. Scholastica each qualified three skiers, and St. Olaf will send one representative.

NMU’s Erik Soderman leads the CCSA men as the top scoring skier of the season. Soderman will be joined by his teammates Fredrik Schwencke, who reached the top of the podium three times this season, and Kyle Bratrud, who represented the United States at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden in February and notched four victories in the CCSA earlier in January.

Alaska Fairbanks will send Logan Hanneman, a competitor for the United States at the U-23 World Championships to his fourth NCAA Championship appearance. Hanneman’s teammate Jonas Löffler, a senior from Saint Märgen, Germany, will make his second appearance at the Championships. Michigan Tech qualified Haakon Hjelstuen, an exchange student from Oslo, Norway, who notched two victories this season, as well as Tom Bye, a freshman from Eden Prairie, Minnesota who competed for the United States this winter at the World Junior Championships.

St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer will travel to his third NCAA Championship, and Jake Brown will make his first appearance at the Championships, both representing St. Olaf.

On the women’s side, Northern Michigan’s Jordyn Ross was the highest scoring qualifier from the CCSA, and the senior from Lakeville, Minnesota will make her second NCAA Championships appearance alongside her teammates Felicia Gesior and Kristen Bourne.

Michigan Tech will send Alice Flanders with three victories this season to her second Championships, along with Deedra Irwin, a member of the US team at the U-23 World Championships who will be making her second appearance. St. Scholastica will send senior Sharmila Ahmed to her second Championships along with her teammate Anita Kirvesniemi, who will making her first appearance after notching two victories this season. Alaska Fairbanks will be represented by Anne-Tine Markset, a sophomore from Oslo, Norway. She is making her first appearance at the NCAA Championships.

The Nordic events will be held at Mt. Van Hoevenberg on Wednesday, March 11th with the women’s 5 kilometer and the men’s 10 kilometer freestyle race, and on Friday, March 13th with the women’s 15 kilometer, and the men’s 20 kilometer classic mass start race.

This year’s championships will be webcast live on NCAA.com. Visit http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule to watch all the action. Races will begin at 10:00 AM, EST

 

2015 Central Region qualifiers

Men

Erik Soderman, Northern Michigan

Kyle Bratrud, Northern Michigan

Fredrik Schwencke, Northern Michigan

Logan Hanneman, Alaska Fairbanks

Haakon Hjelstuen, Michigan Tech

Jake Brown, St. Olaf

Jonas Löffler, Alaska Fairbanks

Paul Schommer, St. Scholastica

Tom Bye, Michigan Tech

 

Women

Jordyn Ross, Northern Michigan

Felicia Gesior, Northern Michigan

Alice Flanders, Michigan Tech

Deedra Irwin, Michigan Tech

Anita Kirvesniemi, St. Scholastica

Sharmila Ahmed, St. Scholastica

Anne-Tine Markset, Alaska Fairbanks

Kristen Bourne, Northern Michigan

Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson and Northern Michigan’s Fredrik Schwencke won the final event of the NCAA Central Regional Championships, held at Al Quaal Park in Ishpeming, Michigan.

The women’s 15 kilometer classic mass start race was led out of the gates by Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin. As Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller explained the race, “after the first climb Deedra stretched the field out and got a gap. After that she skied relaxed, and Ulrika [Axelsson] bridged the gap to Deedra near the end of the first lap along with Felicia [Gesior].”

By the end of the first lap at 5 kilometers Irwin and Axelsson were leading the race with Gesior of NMU skiing along with them. The rest of the women’s field trailed the leading three by more than 10 seconds. Chasing the leaders was a group led by Alaska Fairbanks duo Ann-Cathrin Uhl and Nichole Bathe.

With Irwin and Axelsson in control of the race, the two Michigan Tech skiers continued to keep the pace high throughout the race. “Both were just trying to go as fast as they could to put a gap on the field,” said Haggenmiller. “They were not really battling each other. Deedra put in a hard effort to get Ulrika from the bad side of the bubble to the good side,” Haggenmiller said in reference to Axelsson’s bid for qualifying for NCAA Championships.

With Axelsson’s campaign resting on a top finish, the two Michigan Tech women increased the pace on the final lap and managed to gain some distance on Gesior.

“They were able to claw out a 5-10 second gap on Felicia on the last lap,” said Haggenmiller.

Axelsson took the victory at the finish line, with Irwin trailing just .8 seconds behind. Gesior was third for NMU, 13.5 seconds behind Axelsson.

Nichole Bathe finished fourth for UAF, a result that UAF Interim Head Coach Christina Turman praised. “She raced really strong, it was a good note to end on. She proved that she can be right in there,” said Turman. “She wanted the team to move from 4th place to 3rd, and we did that with her result.”

Kristen Bourne took 5th for NMU, while Ann-Cathrin Uhl took 6th for UAF. “Ann maybe had the race of the day—to break into the top ten in that fashion was pretty impressive.”

Jordyn Ross took 7th for NMU, and St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi finished 8th. St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela applauded Kirvesniemi’s tactical racing on a difficult day for the Saints. “Anita skied really smart,” said Salmela. “She had a hard time keeping pace with the leaders so she bided her time.” Kirveseniemi was able to work her way from 12th position up through the field in the latter stages of the race to finish in 8th.

In 9th from UAF was Ann-Tine Markset, and in 10th was NMU’s Vivian Hett. Markset’s result edged Axelsson out of a qualifying position for NCAA’s despite her victory. “It’s a bittersweat day for her,” said Haggenmiller. “She really represented us well. It was an exciting day for the women. Full credit to Anne-Tine for skiing the race she needed to.”

Northern Michigan won the women’s team title for the Central Regionals, with Michigan Tech in second, and Alaska Fairbanks third. St. Scholastica took fourth, Green Bay was 5th, and St. Olaf 6th. Gustavus and St. Cloud State tied for 7th.

The men’s 20 kilometer mass start classic race was led initially by Isaac Lammers of Alaska Fairbanks. At the first 5 kilometer loop Lammers enjoyed a 3 second gap to the rest of the men’s field in the early stages of the race with NMU’s Adam Martin in close pursuit, followed by Ian Torchia of NMU and Jonas Loeffler of UAF.

Lammers maintained the lead of the race through the 10 kilometer mark, with Martin skiing right behind him and Torchia and Erik Soderman for NMU all within a second of each other.

Torchia, an NMU freshman, led the race at 15 kilometers, with Lammers falling back as the pace increased in the second half of the race. Behind Torchia were his teammates Soderman, Martin, and Schwencke. UAF’s Logan Hanneman and Loeffler were also among the leading six, as the front pack broke away from the rest of the men’s field.

Leading the chasing group at the 15 kilometer mark was Kenneth Brewer of UAF, but the leaders were just out of reach, some 12 seconds ahead.

In the closing stretch it was Schwencke who had the finishing power to win the day, winning with a time of 51:30. Alaska Fairbanks’ Logan Hanneman took second, 5.3 seconds behind Schwencke.

Turman praised Hanneman’s racing strategy, saying, “Logan skied a really smart, tactical race, he never led, and he skied between 4th and 7th the whole race. As the race broke apart he moved up. Adam [Martin] had put a little gap on him near the end, but on the last climb Logan surged ahead to go on and take second.”

In third for NMU was Adam Martin, 1.1 seconds behind Hanneman. In fourth was Erik Soderman, 2 seconds behind Martin, while Ian Torchia was 5th for NMU.

Jonas Loeffler took 6th for UAF. “Jonas was solid,” said Turman, “and he secured his spot.” His teammates Isaac Lammers and Kenneth Brewer finished 7th and 8th, respectively, a result that Turman was thrilled with. “Today was just phenomenal,” said Turman. “Basically the entire team skied to their potential. I couldn’t be more proud of those guys, they raced out of their minds.”

In 9th place for Michigan Tech was Haakon Hjelstuen. Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller said that Hjelstuen was, “really running on fumes today after his effort yesterday. Freddy [Schwencke] made a move, and Haakon tried to respond, but he took a fall. He was never able to bridge back up after that. It was still a good day though.”

Alexander Eckert of UAF rounded out the top ten men in the classic race. Eckert was the 5th man from UAF to make the top ten in Sunday’s race.

Northern Michigan took the top prize for the men’s team competition at Central Regionals. Alaska Fairbanks finished second, and Michigan Tech was third. St. Scholastica was fourth, St. Olaf 5th, and Green Bay 6th.

Full results can be found at www.superiortiming.com

Northern Michigan’s Erik Soderman and Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders were the victors in Saturday’s freestyle race at the NCCA Central Regional Championships, held at Al Quaal Park in Ishpeming, Michigan.

Erik Soderman, the NMU senior from Njurunda, Sweden had a terrific day at Regionals, winning the men’s 10 kilometer race by over 33 seconds with a time of 23:24. “It was a great day for Erik,” said NMU Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim. “He really lit it up on the second loop.”

“He skied out a little conservatively,” said Fjeldheim explaining Soderman’s racing strategy. “That’s kind of how he does it. I think he was only 6 seconds back at 3 k. Then he increases the pace gradually.”

Taking second behind Soderman was Alaska Fairbanks’ Logan Hanneman, with a time 23:57.3. “It was a solid day for Logan,” said UAF Interim Head Coach Christina Turman. “It was pretty surprising to see him ski so well getting right off the plane.”

Hanneman joined the UAF team in Marquette late on Thursday said Turman, opting to stay an extra couple of days in Fairbanks to catch up on missed school from his time away competing at the U-23 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Taking third was Michigan Tech’s Haakon Hjelstuen. “Haakon was pretty fortunate to have Erik Soderman starting behind him,” said MTU Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. When Soderman caught Hjelstuen a few kilometers into the race the Norwegian exchange student stayed with his pace. “He skied with Erik [Soderman] for about 5 k and lost six seconds on him [towards the end of the race].”

“He really put himself in the pain cave to ski with him,” Haggenmiller said. “He couldn’t remember the last 3 k.”

Taking fourth for St. Olaf’s was Jake Brown. Tom Jorgenson, Head Coach of St. Olaf said that Brown skied “a good race, a consistent race. I think it was his best result of the season so far.” Jorgenson added, “it’s coming in at the right part of the season, the right time.”

In 5th place was Fredrik Schwencke of NMU, “a solid day for Freddy,” said Fjeldheim. Finishing in 6th was St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer. “I couldn’t really tell that Paul felt like it wasn’t going great, because I thought he looked great,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “Sometimes…late in the season, when athletes are hanging on to their fitness, they might not feel awesome but they can still perform well. I think that’s what Paul’s experience was. It was arguably one of his best, if not best performance this year compared to the field.”

Taking 7th for NMU was Ian Torchia. “He’s an ambitious freshman,” said Fjeldheim. “He just got back from Kazakhstan and he’s been under the weather this week, he hasn’t been doing much training. He was so passionate about racing today, so I let him.”

8th went to Adam Martin of NMU, while 9th and 10th went to UAF’s Nick Lovett and Kenneth Brewer, respectively. “It was a huge day for those guys,” said Turman. It’s really exciting to see some other guys racing fast and stepping up.”

The women’s 5 kilometer freestyle race was won by Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders with a time of 15:09. It marked Flanders third consecutive distance freestyle victory in the CCSA. “It’s a strong result,” said Haggenmiller. “Anytime you’re winning it’s a good day. We’re pretty proud of her.”

Taking second place was NMU’s Jordyn Ross. Ross had trailed Flanders by about 8 seconds halfway through the race before closing the time gap to just over three seconds at the finish line. “Jordyn was only 3 seconds out,” Fjeldheim said, “and she knows exactly how she lost that time so that’s okay.” Haggenmiller noted that, “Alice and Jordyn sort of have an ongoing battle on the race course.”

In third was St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed, while fourth went to NMU’s Felicia Gesior. In 5th was Anita Kirvesniemi of St. Scholastica. “It was the best single day in our program at regionals ever,” said Salmela. “We’ve never put two in the top five at regionals, and that’s just awesome. The whole team skied great and while we were second last year as well, we’ve never been closer to winning than today.”

“This goes such a long way to take the pressure off both Sharmila and Anita tomorrow because they will probably qualify [for the NCAA Championships] even if they didn’t race tomorrow. They obviously will race, and race the best they can, but it’s nice to not have to feel a lot riding on the race. They can just go out there and let it happen.”

In 6th and 7th place were NMU’s Sophie Schimpl and Kristen Bourne, respectively. In 8th was UAF’s Anne-Tine Markset. “Another solid race for her,” said Turman. “She’s becoming quite consistent. She was just a few seconds off of 6th place, so another close race there.”

In 9th was Deedra Irwin of MTU. “She’s starting to recover from her transatlantic travel,” said Haggenmiller of Irwin’s recent return from the U-23 World Championships in Kazakhstan. “It’s the best she’s felt since she’s been back,” he added. “She’s getting better and better.”

Taking 10th was NMU’s Vivian Hett. “The women did great,” said Fjeldheim. “I was happy with the results for the men and women on day one of regionals.”

Full results can be found at www.superiortiming.com

The Central Collegiate Ski Association has announced it’s 2015 All-Conference teams. Northern Michigan University leads the conference with nine of its skiers among the honorees, while five of Michigan Tech’s skiers and four of St. Scholastica’s were named All-Conference. St. Olaf and Gustavus Adolphus each received an All-Conference award to round out the twenty skiers honored.

Leading the women’s All-CCSA First Team is NMU’s Jordyn Ross and teammate Felicia Gesior, St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi and Sharmila Ahmed, and Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders. The All-CCSA Second Team includes MTU’s Ulrika Axelsson and Deedra Irwin, NMU’s Sophie Schimpl and Megan Edic, and Gustavus Adolphus’s Marit Sonnesyn.

The men’s All-CCSA First Team is led by NMU’s Adam Martin along with teammates Erik Soderman, Fredrik Schwencke, and Kyle Bratrud. St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer rounds out the First Team honorees. The All-CCSA Second Team includes St. Olaf’s Jake Brown, CSS’s Reitler Hodgert, MTU’s Haakon Hjelstuen and Kyle Hanson, and NMU’s Krystof Kopal.

CCSA competition resumes at the NCAA Central Regional Championships on February 28th and March 1st in Marquette, Michigan. The Regional Championships mark the final qualifying races for the 2015 NCAA Championships.

 

Women’s All-CCSA Teams

First Team

Jordyn Ross, NMU

Felicia Gesior, NMU

Anita Kirvesniemi, St. Scholastica

Alice Flanders, Michigan Tech

Sharmila Ahmed, St. Scholastica

 

Second Team

Ulrika Axelsson, Michigan Tech

Marit Sonnesyn, Gustavus

Sophie Schimpl, NMU

Megan Edic, NMU

Deedra Irwin, Michigan Tech

 

Men’s All-CCSA Teams

First Team

Adam Martin, NMU

Erik Soderman, NMU

Fredrik Schwencke, NMU

Paul Schommer, St. Scholastica

Kyle Bratrud, NMU

 

Second Team

Jake Brown, St. Olaf

Reitler Hodgert, St. Scholastica

Haakon Hjelstuen, Michigan Tech

Krystof Kopal, NMU

Kyle Hanson, Michigan Tech

Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders and Northern Michigan University’s Erik Soderman won the individual start freestyle race at the CCSA Distance Championships on Saturday, February 14th at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis. Cold temperatures delayed the start by an hour until the air warmed to -4 degrees Fahrenheit, the minimum temperature allowed for competitions.

Alice Flanders proved that she remains the woman to beat in freestyle at Wirth Park, winning the 10 kilometer event with a time of 13:53.2. Flanders, a senior at Michigan Tech grew up in Crystal, Minnesota skiing the trails at Wirth Park.

“No doubt about it, she feels good skating on that course when it’s compact, straight man-made snow,” said Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. “This one’s kind of in our wheelhouse.”

Taking second place, 11.1 seconds behind the pace of Flanders was Northern Michigan’s Jordyn Ross. In third place was St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed, taking her first individual podium in the CCSA this season with a sharp performance at Wirth.

“She had a rough day in the classic – athletes have those,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “She bounced back from that great, I was really impressed with her focus.” Salmela added, “A podium is always nice, especially at a championship.”

In fourth was Marit Sonnesyn of Gustavus, enjoying another great day of racing at Wirth. “It was her fourth straight race in the top 5 at NCAA qualifiers,” said Gustavus Head Coach Jed Friedrich. “I thought she’d be a little tired from yesterday from putting in a big effort in the chase group, so to see her get this kind of a result today, and be so close to being on the podium was really good to see.”

5th was Felicia Gesior of NMU, and in 6th was St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi. Known as something of a classic specialist, the result marks Kirvesniemi’s second top ten freestyle performance in the CCSA this season.

7th place went to Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin, who recently returned to the Huskies from the U-23 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

“I was happy with how both Deedra [Irwin] and Tom [Bye] skied given their travel schedule,” said Haggenmiller. “They both flew back from Kazakhstan on Monday. I thought they needed some racing this weekend but not necessarily both races, so we looked at Saturday’s race as being a little less taxing.”

NMU’s Sophie Schimpl took 8th, while Alaska Fairbanks Anne-Tine Markset and Nicole Bathe took 9th and 10th respectively. “It’s good to see some consistency from Anne-Tine,” said Alaska Fairbanks Interim Head Coach Christina Turman. “Even when she’s not feeling great she can still hold her own.”

11th went to Allison Ternes of CSS, 12th was Vera Gruber of NMU, and in 13th was UAF’s Ann-Catherine Uhl. 14th went to Rebekka Schueder of NMU, and 15th was Elizabeth Peterson of CSS.

“I think we had a really good weekend, especially on the women’s side,” said Northern Michigan Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim. “I saw quite a few of our young freshmen perform better then they have, like Vera Gruber and Rebekka Schueder. Jordyn [Ross] also had a solid weekend and Felicia [Gesior] had a win and was fourth today, so that was real solid…A really positive weekend for the ladies.”

St. Cloud State University Head Coach Jeremy Frost was happy with Maria Hauers race, as she skied to 21st in the CCSA. “It was a cold day and you could tell some of the competitors were really bothered by it,” said Frost. “I felt Maria did a good job of not letting the cold, wind, and delayed start time disrupt her game plan and she was able to put in a quality race effort in less than ideal conditions.”

Fjeldheim was impressed with the depth of the women’s field, saying, “all the athletes showed a lot of class racing in the cold temperatures. It was good solid competition for our women. I think the whole region here—with Alice [Flanders] and Sharmila [Ahmed]—I think our whole region here is becoming a lot more competitive, especially on the women’s side. So that’s a good sign. The whole CCSA looked strong today.”

Erik Soderman of NMU took his first win in the CCSA on Saturday, winning with a time of 19:27.2. His teammate Fredrik Schwencke was second, 2.3 seconds behind the pace of Soderman.

Fjeldheim said that it was a close race between the NMU teammates. “Erik and Freddy, they were getting splits back and forth. They were never more then 4-5 seconds apart the whole race.”

“I think Fredrik is getting more and more confident in his skating,” said Fjeldheim of Soderman’s improved skating technique.

Paul Schommer made the podium once again, his third of the CCSA Championships. “Paul had a rough day in [Friday’s] classic race,” said Salmela. “He’s been focusing on biathlon so he’s been up and down in classic races this year, but he bounced back on Saturday nicely, which is good for confidence. I think he can be every bit as good at NCAA Regionals.”

Fourth was Adam Martin of NMU, and 5th was St. Olaf’s Jake Brown. 6th was Thomas Bye of MTU, recently returned from the Junior World Championships, and St. Scholastica’s Reitler Hodgert took 7th.

Jonas Loeffler of UAF was 8th, and in another breakout performance for the NMU sophomore from the Czech Republic, Kristof Kopal took 9th.

“Kristof Kopal has made a huge step in the right direction,” said Fjeldheim. “He’s come so far from last year. I’m really satisfied with the men’s team this weekend.”

The St. Scholastica men’s and women’s team won the CCSA Championships, a four event series held over the past two weekends at Spirit Mountain Nordic Center in Duluth, Minnesota and Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.

“Winning both men’s and women’s CCSA Championships is a huge step forward for our ski program,” said a thrilled Salmela.  “We had a spectacular day again as a team.”

Salmela had been concerned about the losing the Saints advantage to Michigan Tech, who were bolstered by the return of Deedra Irwin from the U-23 World Championships. “I didn’t know if we’d hold our own today with them at full power,” said Salmela, “but our ladies stepped up big. To finish the Championship by edging Tech by a point was kind of an icing on the cake…a sign that we earned this title.”

Salmela was equally pleased with his men’s team, saying, “I really was impressed with our men today, they haven’t raced this well as a team all year, and I think our guys just rose to the occasion on a day that they had to perform to make history. I get goose bumps thinking about it…The whole team, scorers and non-scorers, all made me so proud today. Doing what we did today just makes the title we won so much sweeter because it was a championship performance by our guys. No doubt about it.”

 

Full men’s results can be found at www.endurancepromotions.com

Full women’s results can be found at www.endurancepromotions.com

Northern Michigan University’s Felicia Gesior and Fredrick Schwencke took the top honors in Friday’s classic mass start race at the CCSA Distance Championships held at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.

The women’s 15 kilometer race was initially led by Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson who pushed the pace early on in the five lap race. Axelsson was joined in the lead on the first lap by Nicole Bathe of Alaska Fairbanks before the NMU duo of Felicia Gesior and Jordyn Ross skied to the front of the race.

From then on the trio of Axelsson, Gesior and Ross led the race, staying 10 to 15 seconds ahead of the chasing pack. “She [Axelsson] was kind of the person pushing the pace throughout the race,” said Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. “She animated the race.” Haggenmiller added, “It was fun to see her out there making everyone work hard.”

At the start of lap 4 St. Scholastica’s Allison Ternes took the lead of the chasing pack. “I think Allison just was feeling good and had no real experience beyond lap 3,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. It was Ternes first race of more than 10 kilometers, and as Salmela put it, “she got excited, but tired a bit down the stretch.”

Late in the final lap of the race Gesior made her move, pulling ahead of Axelsson and holding her off in a close race to the finish line. Gesior won with a time of 44:32.9, 1.8 seconds ahead of Axelsson.

Gesior’s victory came in part from a change in strategy for the junior Wildcat. “Felicia learned from last time we were here not to lead the whole race,” said NMU Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim referring to the Twin Cities Championship mass start classic race held at Wirth Park in late January. In that race Gesior broke away early to lead by a wide margin before tiring late in the event to take second. Gesior made no such mistake in Friday’s race.

“Both Jordyn [Ross] and Felicia skied smart races today,” said Fjeldheim. “Our whole women’s team was in the top 15.”

“It was down to Ulrika [Axelsson] and Felicia [Gesior] on the last lap, and Felicia had a little more left for the last half a lap,” said Haggenmiller. “Credit to Felicia for being able to hang on and win a fairly tight sprint.”

In third place was NMU’s Jordyn Ross, 8.4 seconds behind Gesior and in fourth was Anita Kirvesniemi of St. Scholastica. “She was super savvy today to get fourth, despite hitting a rough patch,” said Salmela. “That’s just really smart racing that gets you there under the circumstances.”

In 5th place was Marit Sonnesyn of Gustavus, and in 6th was Anne-Tine Markset of Alaska Fairbanks. “Anne-Tine skied a great race,” said UAF Interim Head Coach Christina Turman. “It’s been exciting to watch Anne-Tine throughout the season. It’s fun to watch her race.”

Taking 7th was Allison Ternes of St. Scholastica. “To be 7th in this field as a freshman in your first 15 kilometer race is just super impressive,” said Salmela. “I think race of the day goes to Allison.”

In 8th was Nicole Bathe of UAF, and in 9th Rebekka Shueder of NMU, a freshman from Sparneck, Germany. Rounding out the top ten was NMU’s Sophie Schimpl.

The men’s 20 kilometer mass start classic race was led early on by St. Scholastica’s Reitler Hodgert before Northern Michigan’s Fredrik Schwencke, Adam Martin, and Erik Soderman took over the front of the race along with UAF’s Jonas Loffler. The four leaders skied ahead of the rest of the men’s field with Hodgert and St. Olaf’s Jake Brown leading the chase.

UAF’s Loffler hung on to the three Wildcats until the final lap of the race when the NMU trio began to vie for the top honors. In the end it was Schwencke who had the closing speed to win the day, crossing the finish line with a time of 45:03.3. Martin took second, 5.2 seconds behind, and Soderman third, 1.6 seconds later.

“It was good to see the boys staying fit and fast,” said Fjeldheim. “They were challenging each other throughout the race.”

Loffler of UAF took fourth, a performance that pleased Turman. “Jonas [Loffler] was the highlight in a day where the men’s team really shined,” said Turman. “We had 5 guys in the top 15 and we’re sitting comfortably in second place as a team.”

“I’ve known all season that we can ski at this level,” said Turman, adding, “Jonas skied to his potential today, and there’s nothing quite as satisfying for a coach as seeing someone reach their potential.”

In 5th was St. Olaf’s Jake Brown. “It’s his second good classic race of the season,” said St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson. “That puts him in a good position for making NCAA’s.” Brown, known for his skating prowess, has sharpened his classic technique this season. “It helps that the classic races are mass start and longer distances,” said Jorgenson. “The longer the distance the better Jake does.”

Taking 6th was Reitler Hodgert of St. Scholastica. “Reitler was really on today, you could tell,” said Salmela. “He was so on that it was a little much at the start. I think without realizing it, he used up a bit of energy in the first 6 kilometers that would have come in handy about the time Jake Brown made a surge. But that’s how you learn—from experience, and Reitler had a great one today.”

7th went of Alexander Eckert of UAF, and in 8th place was Kristof Kopal of NMU. A sophomore from the Czech Republic, it was Kopal’s first top ten performance.

9th and 10th went to Michigan Tech’s Kyle Hanson and Thomas Kendrick, respectively. “The guys raced really well,” said Haggenmiller, “they raced their way up.”

The CCSA coaches praised the race organization at Wirth, noting that the course was both fast and fair.

 

Michigan Tech’s Haakon Hjelstuen and Ulrika Axelsson skied to victory in Sunday’s CCSA Sprint Championships held at Spirit Mountain Nordic Center in Duluth, Minnesota.

A 1.4 kilometer freestyle sprint, held on a winding and technical trail made for exciting racing. After a qualifying sprint 18 racers advanced to the semifinal heats, with the top two from each heat advancing to the final and third and fourth place skiers moving on to the B final.

In the first men’s heat Hjelstuen, the fastest qualifier of the day with a time of 2:57.9, cruised to first while his Michigan Tech teammate Sam Holmes took second. David Joda, also of MTU finished third and St. Scholastica’s Calvin Mehrhof was fourth to move on to the B final.

In the second heat St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer and Joe Dubay dueled over the course of the race, with Schommer taking the lead up the final climb into the finish to win the heat with Dubay taking second. Gerrit Garberich of CSS and Thomas Kendrick of MTU advanced to the B final.

The last semifinal heat was led by Chris Parr, skiing in the Open division. Kyle Hanson of MTU took second to move on to the final, while Reitler Hodgert of CSS and Josh Blakenship of Gustavus moved on the B final.

In the men’s B final Garberich and Reitler led the race from the starting gun, until Michigan Tech’s David Joda pulled into the lead heading into the downhill, 500 meters from the finish. Joda demonstrated his speed and strength on the final climb, leaving the rest of the field behind to win the B final comfortably. St. Scholastica’s Mehrhof took second while Gustavus’s Blankenship edged out CSS’s Hodgert who faded late in the race.

The men’s final was led from the start by Hjelstuen, who took control of the race early, with Parr and Schommer in close pursuit. On the final climb Hjelstuen attacked, leaving behind Schommer and Parr to battle for second. Heading into the finish Hjelstuen glanced back, and seeing that he was not under pressure, went for a stylish finish, skiing backwards across the line to win the day.

Parr crossed second, and Schommer third. MTU’s Hanson and Holmes went 4th and 5th respectively, while Joe Dubay of CSS finished 6th, his race hampered by a broken pole.

“Haakon pretty much led from start to finish,” said Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. Of Hjelstuen’s method of finishing the race, Haggenmiller chuckled, “that’s a Norwegian thing, he’s a heck of a sprinter so he’s able to go fast enough where he’s able to hot dog it backwards through the finish line.”

“I thought the whole team skied great this weekend,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “Paul [Schommer] looked like his form was quite good, Joe [Dubay] showed a lot of life today, and the format that we don’t get to race much let a lot of others on our team shine today, which I love to see.”

Heat 1 in the women’s sprint race was led initially by St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed, the fastest qualifier of the day, and her teammate Evelyn Delong. Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson skied behind the two Saints, moving in behind Ahmed until the final climb where she attacked, winning the heat with Ahmed in second. MTU’s Carolyn Lucca and Green Bay’s Bree Mucha went 3 and 4 in the heat and advanced to the B final.

The second women’s heat was led from the starting gun by MTU’s Lisa Koenig and Green Bay’s Kailey Mucha. Koenig led the race for more than half the distance until CSS’s Ellie Evans made a late charge up the climb to win the heat with St. Olaf’s Piper Bain in second. Koenig and Allison Ternes of CSS moved on the B final.

The third and final semifinal heat was controlled from start to finish by CSS skier Anita Kirvesniemi. Late in the race Liz Peterson of CSS attacked and challenged Kirvesniemi, but a crash in the final meters put her out of contention. Gustavus Adolphus’s Marit Sonnesyn in second. Nora Gilbertson of CSS and Maria Hauer of St. Cloud State University advanced to the B final.

The B final was led out of the gates by the Michigan Tech duo of Koenig and Lucca. Koenig looked strong throughout the heat, with Ternes of CSS closing down the gap to Koenig late in the race, nearly catching the Huskie in the final meters. Lucca skied to third, while Mucha took 4th, Gilbertson 5th, and Hauer 6th.

Saint Cloud State University Head Coach Jeremy Frost said, “Maria [Hauer] has battled illness and injury on and off this season so it was great to see her qualify in 11th and stay in, or right on the pack in the semis and B final.” Frost added that it was “nice to see Kiersten [Haaversen] get so close to qualifying for the heats. That is a great result for her and should give her confidence moving forward.”

Kirvesniemi led the women’s final with an explosive start, creating space for her teammates Evans and Ahmed to follow behind her. St. Scholastica looked to be in control of the front of the race, but MTU’s Axelsson found space to ski into second place behind Kirvesniemi. Axelsson made her move at the base of the final climb, charging up the hill and ahead of Kirvesniemi. St. Scholastica’s Ahmed responded to Axelsson’s move and took the outside corner at the crest of the climb in a bid to pass Axelsson in the final straight away—but the Michigan Tech sophomore from Sweden held on for the victory.

“Ulrika [Axelsson] kind of put herself in second place where she was able to make a move on that final hill,” said Haggenmiller. “She made a really good move and was able to really take it to the rest of the field.”

“It was everything an A final should be” Salmela said about the women’s race. “The course is such that you really want the best line on the final turn even if perhaps you’re dying, because it’s a long way around the outside to take the win. Ulrika made the right decision at the right time, but Sharmila [Ahmed] almost still had enough to go around. It was really a great way to end the weekend.”

St. Scholastica’s Evans finished just ahead of Kirvesniemi to take third, while Piper Bain took 5th for St. Olaf and Sonnesyn 6th for Gustavus.

St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson was pleased with Bain’s result. “Piper [Bain] was our top girl today, she’s a junior transfer and she didn’t ski race during her first two years in college, and she hadn’t done a sprint race since high school so I had no idea what to expect from her today. She’s a quick, scrappy skier; I’m super excited for her today.”

 

Full results can be found at http://www.boreal.org/~durfee/

St. Scholastica swept the top of the podium Saturday at the CCSA Relay Championships, winning on home snow at Spirit Mountain Nordic Center in Duluth, Minnesota.

The women’s 3 x 7 kilometer freestyle relay was led out of the gates by Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson with St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi and Liz Peterson skiing in close pursuit. Axelsson held the lead for her entire leg, handing off to teammate Lisa Koenig just ahead of Kirvesniemi and Peterson. Kirvesniemi of CSS 1 tagged off to Ellie Evans, and Peterson of CSS 2 handed off to Chelsey Youngberg. The two St. Scholastica teams quickly took control of the race, with Evans and Youngberg pulling away from Michigan Tech’s Koenig. Evans handed off to CSS 1 anchor leg Sharmila Ahmed with a 31 second advantage over CSS 2’s anchor skier Allison Ternes. Michigan Tech’s Koenig tagged off to Alice Flanders 23 seconds behind CSS 2.

“I felt to ensure a win today, we needed a cushion on the final exchange,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “I wasn’t ruling out pulling it off with Sharmila [Ahmed] and Alice [Flanders] together at the exchange, but when you’re up against Alice in a 7.5km freestyle, you just do the math. It’s just going to take anyone in the CCSA a great day to beat her, and Sharmila is one of the few who could, but a cushion is nice.”

With Ahmed starting the final leg of the race with a 54 second advantage over Flanders, St. Scholastica had the cushion that Salmela desired. Ahmed skied a strong and composed race to win the relay with a total time of 49:02, while Flanders battled back for Michigan Tech, passing Ternes to take second with a time of 49:53.6.

Ternes finished third for CSS 2 with a time of 50:23.5. As the program’s second relay team CSS 2 will not receive medals or championship points but it still marks a result for the Saints.

“Two teams in the top three is just more than you can anticipate,” said Salmela. “Really great skiing from everyone. Ellie [Evans] really made the move of the race, and as it turned out, Sharmila would have had the form today to challenge Alice if it came to that, but it was easier on me for sure that it never did. Our second team was just awesome too, making it to the podium.”

Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller said that he thought the race “started out pretty well, and our anchor leg went pretty well,” but added, “I think Lisa [Koenig] had a little bit of a rough day on her second leg and that was kind of the story for the men too. You know Scholastica really raced well so we have to give them a lot of credit, they beat us fair and square.”

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay took fourth in the women’s relay, and third in the Championship standings. Led by Kailey Mucha, Hanne Guthrie, and Bree Mucha, in that order, the Phoenix enjoyed a good day at Spirit Mountain.

“All three had respectable laps—they showed progressive effort,” said Green Bay Head Coach Steve Teclaw. “Hanne [Guthrie] had the best race of the three, she had a lot left in the tank after the first lap and was able to put time on the other girls.” Guthrie skied the second fastest middle leg for the Pheonix. “All in all it’s a fun weekend,” said Teclaw.

St. Olaf 1 took 5th in the relay with MTU 2 in 6th, and Saint Cloud State University 1 in 7th. Gustavus Adolphus finished 8th.

The men’s 3 x 10.1 kilometer freestyle relay was led in the opening leg by Michigan Tech’s Kyle Hanson. Chasing Hanson was Reitler Hodgert of CSS 1 and Jake Richards of CSS 2. St. Olaf’s Nels Thompson was also in close pursuit along with MTU 2’s Thomas Kendrick.

Hanson demonstrated his skating prowess, pulling ahead of the chasing pack to hand off to his teammate Sam Holmes with a 16 second advantage over CSS 1. Hodgert tagged Paul Schommer who started quickly with an eye on closing the gap to Holmes. Schommer caught Holmes and continued to put time on the rest of the field, handing off to Joe Dubay with a 1:16 advantage over Nick Power of CSS 2. Holmes tagged MTU 1’s anchor leg skier Haakon Hjelstuen in third.

Hjelstuen skied a fast first lap, catching CSS 2’s Calvin Mehrhof, but Dubay proved to be out of reach for the Norwegian exchange student. Dubay skied to victory for the Saints with a total time of 1:05:13, with Michigan Tech taking second with a time of 1:06:08.

The Saints relay victory came in part due to the strategic acumen of their skiers. “Paul [Schommer] is a great, great skier,” said Salmela, “but the guys saw me putting Paul last against Haakon [Hjelstuen], and they actually told me they knew Paul could ski with him if they were knotted together, but they all agreed Paul couldn’t outsprint Haakon if it came down to that. They asked for an order change, and I gave it to them.”

CSS 2 took third while MTU 2 skied to fourth. St. Olaf finished 5th overall, but third in the CCSA Championship standings.

“I set a goal of our team being in the top three programs, and our men’s team made that,” said St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson. “I can tell that our team really likes skiing relays, they’re very team focused, so they do well in events like these.”

Jorgenson said he was “really impressed by Nels [Thompson’s] opening leg, he was right there with the other teams so I’m really encouraged by Nels result there. And Jake [Brown] skied a great anchor leg to put us into that third program position.”

Jorgenson added that, “It’s pretty impressive what they’ve done here on this course with how little snow we have right now, so I’m glad that we can be here.”

Gustavus Adolphus took 6th in the men’s relay, CSS 3 was 7th, and Green Bay 8th.

 

Kyle Bratrud of Northern Michigan University has been named to the 2015 US Nordic World Ski Championship Team announced the US Ski Team on Monday. The World Championships will be held in Falun, Sweden between February 18th and March 1st.

NMU Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim said that Bratrud being named to the US World Championship Team is “really exciting,” adding, “the whole department is proud, the university is proud, and I’m proud. It will be a great experience for him—it’s sort of like a young kid going from the minors into the major league.” Bratrud is the lone NCAA competitor on the 2015 USA roster, a rare honor for a college skier. CCSA President Chad Salmela said that Bratrud being named to the team is “pretty special.”

Bratrud, a senior at Northern Michigan, is currently in Almaty, Kazakhstan training ahead of the U-23 World Championships held there between February 1st and 8th. Bratrud will now extend his stay overseas and travel to Sweden after the conclusion of the Under 23 Championships.

“Hopefully he will do the 15 k freestyle race [on February 25th] which will give him two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Championship,” said Fjeldheim. “We’re hoping it will be a win-win situation where he gets some good experience and comes back stronger for NCAA’s.”

“The whole CCSA is excited for him,” said Fjeldheim.

Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders and Haakon Hjelstuen took the top honors in Sunday’s freestyle race at the Twin Cities Championships held at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.

Hjelstuen was an early starter in the men’s 10 kilometer freestyle race, and he skied a fast first loop, lapping through the stadium just as Northern Michigan’s Adam Martin was starting his race. “He’s a savvy enough skier to be able to take advantage of that good fortune,” said Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. Hjelstuen used Martin’s quick opening pace to his benefit, skiing across the line with a time of 21:12.9 for the victory. Just behind him was Martin who had the strategic advantage of being a lap behind the Michigan Tech junior and with it the benefit of knowing his split time against Hjelstuen’s. Martin nearly closed down the gap on Hjelstuen as he came in across the line, five seconds behind the native of Trondheim, Norway.

In third was NMU’s Fredrik Schwencke less than 15 seconds behind Hjelstuen’s time, with teammate Erik Soderman in fourth. St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer took fifth, while UW-Green Bay’s Kyle Marshall took 6th.

Green Bay Head Coach Steven Teclaw called Marshall’s race “really exciting. A consistent performance from Kyle shows that his results last week weren’t a fluke; he’s really coming into his own.” Marshall started the race strong and maintained his effort heading into the last lap. “He was pretty calm and composed skiing into his last lap, which was good to see,” said Teclaw. “It was really fast and we were encouraging him to leave everything out there with the results being so tight. He had enough left for the last lap to hold the place he had skied himself into, it was really great to see that kind of a strong finish from him.”

Reitler Hodgert of St. Scholastica took 7th, while St. Olaf’s Jake Brown skied to 8th. Rounding out the top 10 for the men were Kyle Hanson of MTU in 9th and Calvin Mehrhof of St. Scholastica in 10th.

It was another good day for the Saints at Wirth Park and St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela applauded their effort. “Overall, it was a weekend in which our men’s team came into race form in earnest,” said Salmela. “Reitler Hodgert threw his hat in the ring in earnest for an NCAA Championships bid, with a 5th and 8th this weekend, and Calvin Mehrhof continues to sparkle with his first top 10 in a CCSA event, in what is traditionally his weaker technique. Three in the top 10 is always great for us, and our depth was great today as a team. We had a very tight race against Michigan Tech both days and that’s always a good rivalry. I’m pleased with how the guys skied.”

In the women’s 5 kilometer freestyle race Alice Flanders set a blistering pace, winning with a time of 14:50.1. Haggenmiller said he was really impressed “by the way that she kept at it,” adding that she “really put the hammer down today.” Flanders won by an impressive 27.6 second margin ahead of second place Jordyn Ross of NMU.

Flanders, a senior at Michigan Tech, calls Crystal, Minnesota her hometown. “It’s Alice’s home course,” said Haggenmiller of the Wirth trails. “She grew up 5 miles away and did most of her high school training on the course. It fits her style well with lots of transitions.”

The MTU women were hungry for success on Sunday after difficult waxing conditions the day before hampered their races. “We struggled with skis a little bit on Saturday,” said Haggenmiller. “I think they wanted some payback for that today. It was good for them to come out and show what they needed to show.”

In second place in the women’s race was NMU’s Jordyn Ross with a time of 15:17.7. In third was Ross’s teammate Felicia Gesior. St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed skied a strong race to finish fourth, matching her place in Saturday’s classic race.

In fifth was Marit Sonnesyn of Gustavus, and in 6th was Anita Kirvesniemi of St. Scholastica, her best finish in a CCSA freestyle race. Salmela praised his team’s effort on Sunday saying, “overall, just a great weekend for our women’s team. Top to bottom, we skied really well this weekend, and we just want to keep that momentum into the rest of the season.”

Taking 7th was NMU’s Vera Gruber, with fellow teammates Sophie Schimpl in 8th and Megan Edic in 9th. Green Bay’s Bree Mucha took 10th. It was a good day for Bree Mucha who enjoys a sibling rivalry with her older sister and Green Bay teammate Kailey Mucha. “It’s an interesting dynamic” says Teclaw. “Kailey being older sort of has her little sister biting at her heels.”

The sisters from Soldotna, Alaska are both “strong, confidant athletes” says Teclaw. “They have a lot of experience racing with each other. It’s fun to see them race together and battle it out.”

“It was good to have Bree get one on the board against her sister,” said Teclaw. “I think it will sort of light the fire in Kailey. It’s fun to see them go back and forth.”

Full results can be found at www.endurancepromotions.com