STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Senior Skylar Patten had the best finish in both days of competition at the NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, leading Michigan Tech to a 10th-place overall team finish. 

“We’re really proud of how the team competed at NCAAs,” Huskies coach Tom Monahan Smith said. “It’s always really challenging coming up to altitude and Steamboat is the highest elevation we ski at any NCAA competition with really tough courses but we had a really solid championship from the entire team.

“We had personal best from everyone of our men’s squad with Colin Freed having an outstanding classic race and one of his been at NCAA’s, Henry (Snider) in the skate race was his best finish at nationals as well and Skylar leading the team with two really outstanding races only 10 seconds out of all-American in the skate race and a really well-paced race in the classic moving up throughout the entire race and his best NCAA finish in the classic race.

Monahan Smith was proud of the men’s team for its improvement from last season.

“They finished as the seventh-place men’s team, which is an improvement from the 10th-place finish last year,” he said. 

Three women had really strong performances, according to Monahan Smith.

“Synne Herheim had a really great championship for her first year as a true freshman, scoring in both races was really big for her and she had a really great classic race,” he said. “Olivia Laven had her best NCAA result in the skate distance, which was a big highlight for her and Anabel Needham had a tough championship, but we’re always proud of how she competes and gives 100 percent effort no matter what. We moved up from 15th to 13th in the overall standings after finishing in 10th place in Nordic.”

Monahan Smith also recognized the efforts of the support staff, both in coaching and in team alternates, who helped make 2024 a successful season for the Huskies.

:I want to give a huge thank you to our entire coaching staff who have worked tirelessly and given everything to support our student-athletes,” he said. “They deserve a special thank you, and Tryg Solberg, who went above and beyond being an alternate.”

SKATE INTERVAL START 7.5KM

Patten placed 14th overall in a time of 20:18.9, ten seconds out of 10th place. Freed and Snider finished one behind another in 23rd and 24th place, respectively. 

Laven skied a near-even split race to finish 24th overall and lead a pack of three Huskies in a time of 24:10. First-year Herheim was close behind with a 27th finish in 24:23. Needham finished in 32nd overall. 

CLASSIC MASS START 20KM

Patten paced the Huskies for the second day of competition with a 16th-place finish in the 20km race. Freed cracked 59 minutes with his time of 58:57.5, good for 21st in the field. Snider clocked a time of 1:00.37.4 to take 30th place.

Herheim was the first finisher for the Black and Gold in Saturday’s distance race, placing 26th overall, just a second from the 25th spot, clocking in a time of 1:07.27.5. Needham placed 33rd and Laven finished 38th.