St. Scholastica’s Kirvesniemi, NMU’s Schwencke win classic event at Twin Cities Championships

CCSA News

St. Scholatica’s Anita Kirvesniemi and Fredrik Schwencke of Northern Michigan University won Saturday’s classic race at the Twin Cities Championships held at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.

It was Northern Michigan University’s Felicia Gesior who initially led the women’s 10 kilometer classic mass start race. Gesior set a blistering early pace, dropping the rest of the field to take an almost 30 second lead by the halfway mark 5 kilometers into the race. Pursuing the junior Wildcat was St. Scholastica’s Kirvesniemi who led the chasing pack that included NMU’s Jordyn Ross and Sophie Schimpl.

“I could see [at about 5 km] on the big climb, that Felicia was looking labored,” noted St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “I think most people were thinking Felicia [Gesior] was going to win easily, but I could see Anita [Kirvesniemi] had been skiing with really even effort. So I told her right there she was 24 seconds back, but she looked better and should start to think about winning.”

Kirvesniemi then made a move to catch Gesior, dropping Ross and Schimpl. Gesior managed to hold on to her lead until the final kilometer when Kirvesniemi finally caught her. Gesior was unable to keep up with Kirvesniemi, who crossed the finish line smiling with a time of 30:29.6. Gesior cross the line 10.5 seconds later, in second.

“Felicia showed a gutsy effort,” said NMU Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim of Gesior’s race. “I think she just got tired.” Fjeldheim applauded her bold racing strategy, saying that he liked to see her “rolling the dice and risking it.”

In third place was NMU’s Jordyn Ross, 31 seconds behind Kirvesniemi. Finishing in 4th was St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed who skied up from 7th place at the halfway point to create a close race with NMU for team points. With Kirvesniemi in first and Ahmed in fourth the Saints were in close contention with the Wildcats.

“I started doing the quick math with 2 kilometers to go,” said Salmela, “and I started telling our ladies they can beat Northern (Michigan). NMU is always the biggest target in our region; always the goal.”

Yet Schimpl came in 6th, just ahead of St. Scholastica duo Allison Ternes and Elizabeth Evans in 7th and 8th, respectively, to foil the Saints bid to unseat powerhouse NMU in team points. In the end NMU took the day by a single point, 64 to Scholastica’s 63.

“This was perhaps the most fun race I remember watching as a coach of this team,” said Salmela.

Marit Sonnesyn of Gustavus also had an excellent race, finishing in 5th place. “She felt really good today; her strategy was to stay relaxed in the beginning and then work her way through the field,” said Gustavus Head Coach Jed Friedrich. “She was strong on the third lap and in general she got stronger and stronger throughout the race. She’s pretty determined to be as competitive as possible in the CCSA, and I think she’s showing that she can compete with the best in the region.”

Megan Edic of NMU took 9th, Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson took 10th, Nora Gilbertson skied to 11th for St. Olaf, and Kailey Mucha of UW-Green Bay finished in 12th.

St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson praised Gilberston’s effort. “Nora had the race she needed to have,” said Jorgenson. “It showed how much her fitness has come around. We’re looking for more to come in the future. Overall it was a great day, the women did really well.” Laura Moore finished 21st for the Olies, while teammates Piper Bain was 25th and Amy Waananen 28th.

The men’s 15 kilometer classic mass start race was led off the start line by a trio of NMU skiers: Fredrik Schwencke, Adam Martin, and Erik Soderman. “The guys wanted to break away early,” said Fjeldheim. The three Wildcats soon did just that, and were left to contest the race among themselves.

In the end it was Schwencke, a sophomore from Oslo, Norway who had the finishing speed to win the race 3 seconds ahead of Martin with a time of 39:20.2. Soderman took third, less than 22 seconds after Schwencke for an NMU podium sweep. “I think either one of them could have won,” said Fjeldheim.

Haakon Hjelstuen, now eligible to compete for Michigan Tech, crossed the finish line in fourth, while St. Scholastica’s Reitler Hodgert took 5th. “Reitler and Jake [Richards, 11th] had really great races, Paul [Schommer, 7th] was solid, and we saw our depth skiers step up a notch,” said Salmela. “That always feels great.”

St. Olaf’s Jake Brown finished in 6th. “It was a great classic race for Jake,” said Jorgenson, “probably one of the best classic races of his career. It was the result he needed today, and it showed how much he’s improved his classic technique.”

Rounding out the top ten for the men were Sam Holmes from Michigan Tech in 8th, and NMU’s Krystof Kopal and Thomas Kendrick taking 9th and 10th respectively.

Full results can be found at www.endurancepromotions.com

NMU’s Ross, Soderman named CCSA skiers of the week

CCSA Skiers of the Week

Northern Michigan University’s Jordyn Ross and Erik Soderman have been named the CCSA skiers of the week for their accomplishments at the Telemark Chase held on January 17th and 18th.

Jordyn Ross skied to victory in the women’s 10 kilometer freestyle mass start race in Telemark, Wisconsin, with a time of 34:11.9, and finished fifth in the 5 kilometer classic race. Ross, a senior at NMU, has been one of the regions fastest racers this season. At US Nationals she led the CCSA women in the 10 kilometer freestyle race, finishing 16th overall, and took third for the CCSA in the 20 kilometer event.

Erik Soderman, a senior Wildcat from Njurunda, Sweden, proved that he is back in top form after illness earlier in the season hampered his campaign at US Nationals. Soderman skied a strong race in the men’s 15 kilometer freestyle mass start race in Telemark, finishing second, and in the 10 kilometer classic race he took third. Soderman’s performance in the freestyle race indicated that he will be challenging his teammate Kyle Bratrud for the top of the podium in the CCSA this season.

NCAA qualifying continues on January 24th and 25th at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

NMU’s Bratrud, Ross win Telemark freestyle race.

CCSA News

Northern Michigan University’s Kyle Bratrud continued his winning streak in Sunday’s 15 kilometer freestyle race with teammate Jordyn Ross winning the women’s 10 kilometer event in Telemark, Wisconsin.

Bratrud led the race along with teammates Erik Soderman and Adam Martin. Martin held on until 10 kilometers into the race when Bratrud attacked, leaving the race to be decided between himself and Soderman. Bratrud won with a time of 42:38, 11 seconds ahead of Soderman. Bratrud has been unstoppable so far this season in CCSA distance races, and continued to prove that he is the region’s man to beat. “Kyle’s still strong,” said NMU Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim. “His prep for U-23 [World Championships] is on track.”

Fjeldheim was also pleased with Soderman’s race, seeing his second place finish as an indicator that he has recovered from recent illness. “Erik is feeling a lot better,” said Fjeldheim. “Today it looked like he’s coming back.”

Chasing Bratrud and Soderman was a pack that included Paul Schommer of St. Scholastica, Jake Brown of St. Olaf, and Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks. On the last lap they caught Adam Martin of NMU who had dropped from the lead and the four vied for a position on the podium.

Brown attacked on the last lap and opened up a gap ahead of the rest of the chasing group, but not quite enough to hold off the hard-charging pack. In the end it was St. Scholastica’s Schommer who had the most finishing speed, taking third with a time of 43:15. “I think Paul’s race was uplifting for him personally, and for the coaching staff as well,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela, who added that Schommer’s podium was a big step forward in confidence “knowing that we’re within striking distance of those guys from Northern Michigan as we head into the meat of the season. It was definitely a great day in that respect.”

Martin finished two seconds behind Schommer, and Brown took fifth, just one second behind Martin. St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson said that he thinks that is “right where he need to be right now,” adding, “I think it’s interesting that he was able to contest the sprint with Adam [Martin], it showed that he’s developed a lot more speed.” Jorgenson was pleased with the result, saying, “it was a successful weekend for us. We’re looking for more as the season progresses.”

Hanneman of UAF was 6th, Ian Torchia of NMU took 7th, and Jonas Loffler of UAF came in 8th. Kyle Marshall of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay had another breakout race, finishing 9th. Green Bay Head Coach Steven Teclaw said that the top ten result was “huge for Kyle, I’m happy to see that. With Matt Nichols redshirting this year, it’s really what the men’s team needs. He skied a strong, confident race. It’s an exciting finish for Kyle.”

Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders led the women’s 10 kilometer freestyle race for much of the distance, with NMU’s Jordyn Ross in close pursuit. MTU Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller said that about a kilometer from the finish Flanders “ended up straddling a tree” after a crash. “She was able to get back to Jordyn Ross,” said Haggenmiller, “but catching up to Jordyn didn’t do anything for her sprint.”

Ross won the race with a time of 34:11. Flanders finished 12 seconds behind to take second place. “It was really exciting to see Alice skiing today: she’s really close to how she was skiing last year,” said Haggenmiller, “probably a little better than last year.”

Megan Edic of NMU was the third CCSA woman across the finish line, followed by Deedra Irwin of Michigan Tech, who also suffered a fall in the race. Felicia Gesior of NMU took fifth, followed by teammate Sophie Schimpl. It was a good day for the NMU women. “I think they were a little fatigued from Senior Nationals and needed one race to get back into it,” said Fjeldheim. “Today the women were feeling a lot better and were back on their feet.”

In 7th was Sharmila Ahmed of St. Scholastica, with Marit Sonnesyn of Gustavus in 8th. Gustavus Head Coach Jed Friedrich said that Sonnesyn’s result was “not a huge surprise, she’s really fit. She came into the fall as one of the school’s top cross country runners, and she’s a good skier.”

Rounding out the top ten for the CCSA women was NMU’s Vera Gruber in 9th and Alyson McPhetres of UAF in 10th.

Full results can be found at www.racetecresults.com

Michigan Tech’s Irwin, NMU’s Bratrud win Telemark classic

CCSA News, Race Results

Deedra Irwin of Michigan Tech and Kyle Bratrud of Northern Michigan University led the CCSA in Saturday’s interval start classic race in Telemark, Wisconsin. It was a competitive race: Michigan Tech, St. Scholastica, Northern Michigan, and Alaska Fairbanks each had at least two skiers in the top ten of both the men’s and women’s races. “The region is definitely getting stronger,” said NMU Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim.

Deedra Irwin won the women’s 5 kilometer race with a time of 18:41.7, an outstanding performance for the Michigan Tech senior. Taking second was Nicole Bathe of Alaska Fairbanks, finishing just under 15 seconds behind Irwin. Rounding out the top three was NMU’s Felicia Gesior.

Ulrika Axelsson of Michigan Tech finished just behind Gesior, missing the podium by only two and half seconds—an excellent finish for the sophomore skier from Sweden. Jordyn Ross, who had a substantial crash in the race, was the fifth CCSA woman, followed by Alaska Fairbanks skier Anne-Tine Markset, a sophomore from Norway. Alice Flanders of Michigan Tech was 7th, Anita Kirvesniemi of St Scholastica was 8th, Megan Edic of NMU 9th, and Sharmila Ahmed of CSS 10th.

The men’s 10 kilometer classic race was won by NMU’s Kyle Bratrud for his third consecutive victory in NCAA qualifiers this season. Bratrud won with a time of 30:15.6.

In second place was NMU teammate Adam Martin, just .6 seconds off the pace of Bratrud, a close race for the sophomore Wildcat. Taking third for a Northern Michigan podium sweep was Erik Soderman, who Fjeldheim says is “starting to make his comeback” from illness. NMU freshman Ian Torchia, a member of the 2015 USA World Junior Team, skied an excellent race to finish 4th. Fjeldheim praised his race saying, “Ian’s turning out to be a heck of a freshman.”

St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer had a great race to finish in fifth place. His teammate Reitler Hodgert was sixth. “Reitler had the race of his season to date and Paul skied into the race really well, showing improving capacity to push hard,” said St. Scholastica Coach Chad Salmela.

Alaska Fairbanks duo Alexander Eckert and Jonas Loffler placed 7th and 8th, respectively. Haakon Hjelstuen of Michigan Tech was 9th, and teammate Kyle Hanson was 10th. Green Bay’s Kyle Marshall had a breakout performance, skiing to 11th.

Full results can be found at www.racetecresults.com

 

NMU’s Bratrud, Michigan Tech’s Irwin named CCSA skiers of the week

CCSA Skiers of the Week

Kyle Bratrud of Northern Michigan University and Deedra Irwin of Michigan Tech have been named CCSA skiers of the week for their performances at US Nationals in Houghton, Michigan.

Bratrud was outstanding at US Nationals, winning the 15 kilometer freestyle race overall to take home his first national title. His race left little doubt about his ability this season; he took first place by an incredible 50 second margin. Bratrud’s success continued in the 30 kilometer classic mass start race. The inspired NMU senior led the race for much of the distance to finish third overall in a fiercely contested sprint to the finish.

Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin put together a set of excellent sprint races at US Nationals. Irwin led the CCSA women in both sprint races, making her way to the B Final of the classic sprint for 10th place, and finishing 18th in the freestyle sprint. In the distance races Irwin was 33rd in the 20 kilometer classic race overall, and 36th in the 10 kilometer freestyle.

Irwin and Bratrud have been selected to represent the United States at the U23 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. They will travel to Kazakhstan in late January to train ahead of the competitions held during the first week of February.

Telemark will host the next round of NCAA qualifiers this weekend January 17-18 in Cable, Wisconsin.

Hanneman 8th, Irwin 19th in Freestyle Sprint, 7 named to US World Junior and U23 Team

CCSA News

Logan Hanneman of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Deedra Irwin of Michigan Tech led the CCSA Saturday on the final day of the US Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Michigan.

There was a strong Michigan contingent for the CCSA in Saturday’s freestyle sprint race. Leading the CCSA women were Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin and Alice Flanders, placing 18th and 19th respectively.

Northern Michigan University also had a strong showing with five women in the top thirty. Caroline Brisbois was 20th, Jordyn Ross 21st, Vivian Hett 22nd, Felicia Gresior 24th, and Kristen Bourne was 28th.

Logan Hanneman led the CCSA men, skiing the second fastest qualifying race overall with a time of 3:35.65. He advanced to the quarterfinal heats along with NMU’s Kyle Bratrud.

Hanneman won his quarterfinal heat, edging out APU’s Tyler Kornfield by a tenth of a second to advance to the semifinals. The day would end with Hanneman in 8th, and Bratrud 19th.

Overall it proved to be a great week for CCSA skiers at US Nationals, with several podiums and no less than seven CCSA skiers being named to represent the United States at the Junior World and U23 Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan during the first week of February.

Named to the Under 23 team were Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin, NMU’s Kyle Bratrud, and UAF’s Logan Hanneman. The Junior World Championship team will include Michigan Tech’s Tom Bye, and NMU’s Vivian Hett, Kristen Bourne, and Ian Torchia.

“It is a great reflection on our conference and our programs collectively to be so competitive at our national championships,” said CCSA President Chad Salmela. “The CCSA and Midwest region in general had one of their best US Nationals showings in recent memory.”

Full results at myrace.com

Bratrud reaches podium at US Nationals, Kirvesniemi 17th

CCSA News, Race Results

Kyle Bratrud of Northern Michigan University continued his excellent form on Thursday, taking third in the men’s 30 kilometer classic mass start race while St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi took the top honors for the CCSA women by skiing to 17th overall in the 20 kilometer race.

In the men’s race, Bratrud led early on, with his teammates Fredrick Schwencke, Adam Martin, and Erik Soderman all skiing not far behind him in the lead pack. Northern Michigan Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim said the plan for Bratrud was for him to “go with the flow, and not lead to much.” Once in the race though, Bratrud found himself in a position to lead, and continued to through the first 20 kilometers, when NMU teammate Schwencke tried to break away from the pack with Kris Freeman in tow.

Freeman, a four time Olympian for the US, “really benefited from Freddy,” said Fjeldheim of Schwencke’s attack. “He’s an awesome classic skier.” Even if Schwencke’s bold move may have ultimately hurt his final placement, Fjeldheim said he likes to “see that attitude—to not be intimidated.”

The main pack soon caught up to Schwencke and Freeman, though Freeman would ultimately break away near the end of the race, leaving eight skiers including Bratrud to battle it out for the remaining podium places. In the end Bratrud had the strength to move into a good position as the race closed down. With a strong double pole finish to put him in third, Fjeldheim said, “Kyle’s upper body work this year really paid off.”

“Kyle had an incredible race,” said Fjeldheim. “He tends to be a decent classic skier, but today he was great.”

Schwencke, Martin, and Soderman placed 11th through 13th, respectively, for NMU followed by Michigan Tech’s Haakon Hjelstuen in 14th, and Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks in 18th. Paul Schommer of St. Scholastica was 31st and UAF’s Kenneth Brewer was 33rd along with teammate Jan Cech in 39th.

The junior men competed in a 10 kilometer race with NMU freshman Ian Torchia winning the race overall, with a time of 30:46.6, crushing the junior men’s field by over 28 seconds. “The kid’s got an engine,” said Fjeldheim of Torchia. Michigan Tech’s Tom Bye finished the day in 10th, another promising showing from the freshman.

The women’s 20 kilometer classic race was held under lightly snowing skies. Jordyn Ross of NMU was the leading CCSA woman at the halfway mark, in 22nd overall. Just behind her was Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson, St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi, and Felicia Gresior of NMU. Chasing those women were Sophie Schimpl of NMU, Sharmila Ahmed of St. Scholastica, and Megan Edic of NMU.

Kirvesniemi, from Simpele, Finland, holds a FIS license as an international skier and not a USSA license. With few FIS races in the CCSA last season that she could use to gain a better ranking, she had to start the day with 65 women ahead of her. “She did a good job of weaving her way up,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “After two kilometers she was in a good position. When I saw her she was already in 28th, and she ended up finishing in 17th.”

Salmela said that Kirvesniemi, who transferred from the University of New Mexico to St. Scholastica in 2013, has been “training, and racing, better than she has in years.”

“She’s a gifted classic skier,” said Salmela. “I guess she gets that from her parents.” Kirvesniemi comes from an illustrious ski family, her mother swept all the gold medals for Finland in the 1984 Olympics, and her father was a 1989 World Champion.

Kirvesniemi skied a solid second lap to move ahead of Axelsson and Ross to finish as the top CCSA woman in a time of 1:13:57.8. “To get a win in the CCSA for Anita [Kirvesniemi] is really great, and she skied so smart and determined,” said Salmela.

Following her a little over 25 seconds later Axelsson crossed the line for MTU, in 20th overall. Ross was 24th and Gresior was 25th for NMU, with Ahmed 26th for St. Scholastica. Ahmed, who finished 5th in the CCSA, started a little flat, said Salmela, but got steadily faster over the course of the race. “She was fighting the whole way; she skied the last four kilometers faster than Anita.”

NMU’s Schimpl finished 28th, and Edic 32nd, and Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin was 33rd, with teammate Alice Flanders 35th.

Leading the CCSA in the juniors 5 kilometer race was Vivian Hett for NMU in 6th, followed by her teammate Caroline Brisbois in 7th. Allison Ternes was 9th for St. Scholastica.

Overall it was great day for the Saints women, many of whom Salmela said had the best races of their season on Thursday. “The women shined,” he said. “It was a red letter day.”

Full results can be found at myresults.com

 

Hanneman 7th, Irwin 10th in US Nationals Classic Sprint

CCSA News, Race Results

The second day of the US Cross Country Championships proved to be another good showing for CCSA skiers with Logan Hanneman of The University of Alaska Fairbanks winning the B Final, Michigan Tech’s Haakon Hjelstuen third overall, and teammate Deedra Irwin skiing to tenth for the women.

“It’s an exciting day for the program,” said Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. “We haven’t had anyone in the sprint finals for a few years, so to have some people make the finals is pretty exciting.”

An incredible 7 inches of snow reportedly fell over the morning of the race, making a trying sprint course all the more slow and difficult. First overall in qualifying was Michigan Tech student Haakon Hjelstuen, with a time of 4:23.2. Hjelstuen, on exchange  from NTNU in Trondheim, Norway, has been training with MTU’s team, but is currently ineligible to compete for the Huskies.

Haggenmiller says he hopes to resolve Hjelstuen’s status with the NCAA quickly. The Norwegian brings a wealth of experience to the Huskies, having notched multiple sub-90 point FIS races in his skiing career. Haggenmiller praised Hjelstuen saying, “Haakon’s really brought a great element to the team.” Hjelstuen not only posted the fastest qualifying time of the day overall, but he worked his way through the preliminary heats with relative ease, winning his semifinal and taking third overall in the final heat.

It was a good day for the CCSA men overall, with eight skiers through to the heats, not including Hjelstuen. Fredrik Schwencke of Northern Michigan University led the CCSA men in qualifying, posting the fifth fastest time. Schwencke missed out on a spot in the semifinal heats by just over two seconds to finish 13th overall.

Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks bested Hjelstuen in their quarterfinal heat and missed making the final heat by less than half a second. Unlucky to not have advanced despite taking third in his semifinal heat, Hanneman showed his sprinting prowess, and endurance, to win the B Final in an emphatic fashion, crossing the finish line with a four and a half second margin over his closest competitor.

The other top CCSA men on Tuesday were Isaac Lammers of Alaska Fairbanks in 21st, Joe Dubay of St. Scholastica in 22nd, and Reitler Hodgert of St. Scholastica was 24th, and Jonas Loeffler of Alaska Fairbanks in 25th. Rounding out the top thirty for Michigan Tech were Sam Holmes in 27th, and Tom Kendrick in 30th. “Sam really surprised me today,” Haggenmiller said of Holmes standout performance. “We should be moving up the College Cup rankings now.”

The CCSA women were led by Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin. 11th in qualifying, Irwin worked her way through her quarterfinal heat, and finished fourth in the B Final to take tenth overall.

“I expected her to be competitive,” said Haggenmiller of Irwin. “She was 9th last year at US Nationals in qualifying, but she took a pretty bad crash [last year] in the quarterfinals, and my thought was that if she could get through qualifying today and stay on her feet, she would do well.”

Anita Kirvesniemi of St. Scholastica proved that she is in form this season, skiing the fifth fastest qualifier of the day overall, and was the CCSA women’s top qualifier with a time of 5:23.1, just ahead of NMU’s Vivian Hett who qualified in sixth.

Only Irwin was able to navigate her way through the quarterfinals, with Hett finishing 13th overall, Kirvesniemi 16th, and Jordyn Ross of NMU in 28th.

Haggenmiller praised the work of those involved in making the races happen, saying, “the race crew has been doing an outstanding job.”

“Everyone’s getting to experience what we get to every winter,” said Haggenmiller. “I hope they’re having fun and enjoying it.”

Full results can be found at myresults.com

Bratrud wins Men’s National Title, Ross 16th for CCSA women at US Nationals

CCSA News, Race Results

Northern Michigan University displayed a dominating performance on the opening day of US Nationals and NCAA qualifying in Houghton, Michigan. Cold and gusty winds made for difficult conditions but easy waxing in what would be an excellent showing for the CCSA.

Kyle Bratrud led the way, crushing the men’s 15 kilometer freestyle field with a time of 42:01.6, an incredible 50 seconds faster than second place Kris Freeman. The victory marks the first national title for the Minnesota native, and a key step toward securing a place on the U-23 National Team to compete at World Juniors in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

NMU coach Sten Fjeldheim didn’t expect Bratrud to win, but he said, “I knew it was a possibility, and not just him: we have Adam Martin, Fredrik Schwencke, and Erik Soderman. We have four guys that have all been pushing each other. I knew we had four guys in the corral who could be in the top ten if they had a good day. So it was just a pleasant surprise to have someone who won.”

“Kyle has definitely been one of our better skaters this year,” said Fjeldheim, “I guess it was a little bit of a surprise that he won by so much.”

While Bratrud led the Wildcats, his teammate Schwencke enjoyed a great day in Houghton, placing fifth overall. Rounding out third place in the CCSA was Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks who finished eleventh overall.

UAF assistant coach Christina Turman called Hanneman’s race “great and well-deserved. He went hard from the start and put in a gutsy performance in poor racing conditions.”

NMU’s Adam Martin skied to thirteenth overall, and his freshman teammate Ian Torchia placed sixteenth. St. Olaf’s Jake Brown was twentieth overall—the sixth CCSA man to place in the top twenty at US Nationals.

“I’ve got seven guys on the team and they all train together,” said Fjedheim. “There’s been a lot of good camaraderie on the team, and a really healthy atmosphere. On interval days the slowest guy and the fastest guy—they’re just trying to push each other. I think Kyle’s been fortunate this year: Adam’s been super fit and challenging him in the running workouts, and Fredrik and Erik have been challenging him in the rollerski workouts.”

“It’s all about having a group of athletes that are motivated and want to win. You put them all together and give them a little direction, and a lot of things are possible.”

The CCSA women also enjoyed a great opening day at US Nationals, with six women in the top thirty. Jordyn Ross of NMU was the top skier for the CCSA in the women’s 10 kilometer freestyle, finishing sixteenth overall with a time of 32:06.9.

She was followed closely by teammate Kristen Bourne, just 7.1 seconds off of Ross’s pace.

Taking third for CCSA was Alice Flanders of Michigan Tech, in 20th overall. “I’m pretty excited about the results today,” said Michigan Tech coach Joe Haggenmiller. “Alice [Flanders] had a super day, and Tom [Bye, 32nd] put himself in a legitimate contending spot for the World Junior Championship.”

Rounding out the top for the CCSA were three more skiers from NMU: freshmen Vivian Hett, 23rd overall, and Caroline Brisbois, 26th, and junior Felicia Gresior in 30th.

Fjeldheim credits the arrival of four new freshmen this fall to being instrumental in the success of his women’s team this season. “On the women’s side we had four new freshman women…they mixed in real well with the other group [of senior skiers] and ran a few cross country races. They are three of the four top cross country runners at NMU.”

The freshmen elevated the quality of the dryland workouts. Fjeldheim said, “Jordyn [Ross] had this group of girls pushing her and I think that was really healthy for her. They worked well together, they were really ambitious [in dryland].”

Said Fjeldheim of his women’s team, “I was really pleased with how they skied today. I think our young skiers have the potential to do what Kyle Bratrud did today. When he came in as a freshman he wasn’t one of our top guys, but he had some really good upperclassmen to push him and to learn from, and I think that creates a healthy program.”

Fjeldheim said the plan for the rest of the Championships was to “stay healthy and just prepare our skis for the next race and keep fighting.”

Full results can be found at www.myrace.com

 

Frankowski, Schwencke named Central Region Athletes of the Year; Jorgenson and Fjeldheim take coaching honors

CCSA News, CCSA Skiers of the Week

Northern Michigan’s Rosie Frankowski and Fredrik Schwencke have been voted the Central Region’s Women’s and Men’s Athlete of the Year, respectively, by the CCSA coaches, the conference announced Monday. In addition, St. Olaf coach Tom Jorgenson collected the Women’s Central Region Coach of the Year recognition, while NMU head coach Sten Fjeldheim earned the same honor on the men’s side.

Frankowski earned the region’s top honor after writing a magnificent final chapter to her Northern Michigan career. The one-time walk-on was the national runner-up in the 15K skate race at the NCAA Championships, earning first-team All-American status. Frankowski also took sixth in the 5K classic race at nationals (good for a second-team All-American trophy), and also landed the top spot in both the regional and CCSA Championship skate events.

Schwencke, meanwhile, exceeded all expectations with his stellar first season with the Green and Gold. Like Frankowski, the freshman also collected a pair of All-American spots at the NCAA Championships, taking 10th in the 10K classic before finishing sixth as part of a massive lead pack in the 20K freestyle race. Schwencke found his best form at the right time of the season, helping the Wildcats to both CCSA and regional team championships by landing podium places at both events at the CCSA Championships.

The region’s Women’s Coach of the Year, Jorgenson has overseen a steady growth in St. Olaf’s skiing programs over his two-year tenure at the helm, culminating in an NCAA berth (and subsequent All-American finish) for Paige Schember this season. Schember took seventh place in the 15K freestyle at the NCAA Championships, and finished the season as the region’s fourth-ranked skier on the CCSA points list.

“I’m surprised, honestly, to win this award,” Jorgenson said. “I’m very honored, and I’m grateful to the other coaches for recognizing the improvements our program has made, as well as grateful for the high standards they have set that I can follow and work towards as a coach.”

Not far removed from CCSA competition himself — he skied for the Oles before graduating in 2011 — Jorgenson believes that experience has helped shape and inform his coaching. “It helps me to connect with my skiers a little bit more, and understand what they are going through as students and athletes,” he said. “For example, I know Paige so well at this point that the NCAA Championships was almost easy; we both knew what we needed from each other.”

Fjeldheim, meanwhile, continues to add to his impressive trophy cabinet, guiding his men’s team to team titles at both the CCSA and NCAA Central Region championships this season. Fjeldheim sent a full compliment of three men to the NCAA Championships earlier this month, where he helped the team ring up a total of three All-American places.

In addition, Fjeldheim, who earned the region’s men’s and women’s Coach of the Year honors a year ago, was also named the CCSA’s Coach of the Year following the regional championships in February.