Editor’s note: This story was filed after Sunday’s press time. It will appear in Tuesday’s print edition of The Daily Mining Gazette.

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Nordic ski team began its 2021 season over the weekend by hosting the MTU Holiday Championships-Super CXC Cup at the Tech Trails.

“We had an awesome weekend of racing,” Huskies head coach Tom Monahan Smith said. “The men’s team had a strong start to their season and built a lot of confidence to begin competition.”

Cedric Keller, Aleksi Leino, Mark Ousdigian, and Patrick Acton placed fourth through seventh in Saturday’s collegiate classic sprint. Aleksi Leino led the Huskies with a fourth-place finish in the skate sprint. Patrick Acton, Mark Ousdigian, Reid Goble, Cedric Keller, Mitch DeLong, and Tres Green also had top 10 finishes.

Patrick Acton placed second in Sunday’s 15K collegiate skate race followed by teammate Mark Ousdigian only two seconds back. Reid Goble, Cedric Keller, and Aleksi Leino finished in spots five through seven.

Anabel Needham was second in both the collegiate classic sprint and freestyle sprint on Saturday. Johanna Craig and Olivia Laven placed fifth and sixth in the classic sprint with Laven third and Craig fourth in the freestyle sprint.

In the women’s 10K skate on Sunday, Olivia Laven placed third overall followed by Anabel Needham in fourth. Mary Lyon and Johanna Craig also raced for the Huskies.

“Olivia had a great first collegiate race weekend and Anabel skied so well both days,” Tom added. “Mary and Johanna also had a good showing.”

“It was a special event for the over 250 skiers we had here this weekend,” Coach Kristin Monahan Smith said. “It’s a great event for everyone from the under 10 age group to the collegiate and senior skiers. We had adaptive races as well.

“One of the highlights of the weekend is the alumni race. All of the current Huskies go out there and cheer on the alumni which is always special.”

Tom added, “Overall this was a big effort to put on this event especially in this pandemic time. We couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to be racing again and to really showcase what we’re capable of doing here at the Tech Trails. We have to tip our hats to the race organizing committee and our volunteers.”

Tech gets back to competition on January 16-17 at the Gitchi Gami Games – CCSA/Super CXC Cup.