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Huskies wrap up racing at US Cross Country Ski National Championships

MIDWAY, Utah — The Michigan Tech Nordic ski team wrapped up competition at the US Cross Country Ski National Championships on Friday (Jan. 7) at Soldier Hollow.

“We are proud of the efforts and competitiveness the team laid out in all four race days,” Coach Tom Monahan Smith said. “We came out to these championships with the goal of truly competing with the best collegiate, professional, and junior racers in the country, and we achieved this goal with our student-athletes posting highlight results from each day of competition.”

Classic Sprint – Jan. 7

Anabel Needham earned the U23 win and finished 11th overall in the classic sprint. Needham (4th), Henriette Semb (5th), and Oda Hovland (10th) were all top 10 qualifiers. Alice McKnight was the 16th junior.

Adam Witkowski (12th qual/26th final heats/6th U23), Jasper Johnston (8th qual/23rd final heats), Colin Freed (14th qual/24th final heats), and Skylar Patten (15th U23) led the Black and Gold in the men’s race.

“We are so happy for Anabel earning selection to the U23 World Ski Championships,” added Monahan Smith. “It was amazing to see her get out there and have her best sprint qualifier yet to date and back it up with an outstanding quarterfinal heat that sealed her U23 win! She has worked so hard to be here, and we are so happy to see that it is paying off. Above all, she has carried a cool, calm and always mature perspective into this season that is really paying off in the consistency of her results, and I have to say she is one tough kid.”

Interval Start Classic – Jan. 6

Henriette Semb (28th overall/12 collegiate), Anabel Needham (31st overall/3rd U23 / 14th collegiate), and Olivia Laven (47th overall/28th collegiate) all placed in the top 50 in the 10K classic.

Skylar Patten (57th overall/16 U23), Colin Freed (60th overall/11 U20), and Henry Snider (62nd overall/17th U23) led the men in the 15K classic.

Mass Start Skate – Jan.y 4

Skylar Patten had his career-best result, placing 20th overall, fifth in U23, and eighth collegiately in the 30K skate. Mark Ousdigian (36th overall/15th collegiate) and Tryg Solberg (40th overall/18th collegiate) also had top 40 finishes. Colin Freed was 17th overall and 12th in U20 in the 10K.

Henriette Semb (26th overall) was ninth amongst collegiate skiers in the women’s 20K, and Olivia Laven (32nd overall) was the 15th collegiate finisher.

Skate Sprint – Jan. 2

Anabel Needham placed 23rd overall and fourth in U23 in Sunday’s skate sprint. Jasper Johnston was the 29th placed junior. Adam Witkowski qualified 16th, placed 17th overall, eighth in U23, and 10th amongst collegiate skiers.

“We did not have the best race days as a full team every day of competition, but this is something we can now work on through the rest of the season,” said Coach Tom Monahan Smith. “We traveled the full team to these championships so that every one of our student-athletes gained the experience of racing here. This was so vital to not just our continued competitive development, but we know will pay off for us at NCAA Championships this year since we return back here in March.

“Our student-athletes are now more experienced racing at this venue, at this high altitude, in these wild mountain snow conditions that we experienced this week, and amongst the top racers in the country that included all of our NCAA competitors. Every one of our student-athletes gained a breadth of competitive knowledge at these championships, and that will fuel our competitiveness as a team through the remainder of the season.

“We, unfortunately, were not able to count the classic distance races as NCAA Central Region qualifiers as there was not a majority team representation from the CCSA due to COVID cases amongst CCSA teams. We are hungry to compete as a team for CCSA titles every weekend through the season ahead, and there is no doubt U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships have further fueled our motivation and confidence.

“Our best race day as a team was in the final day of competition in the classic sprints. This was awesome to see as everyone no doubt was tired from the entire previous week of racing. This day showed one that we are skiing fast as there is no way you can post top results in a national sprint competition without being able to ski at comparative top speed to your competitors. It also showed the true tenacity of this team, they are one tough team and to have a highlight day at the end of the week truly speaks to that!”

The Huskies get back to competition on Jan. 22-23 at the CCSA Mt. Itasca CXC Cup in Coleraine, Minnesota. A classic 5/10K is on day one followed by a skate 10/15K.

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