DULUTH, Minn. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski squads concluded the 2023-24 campaign with four races from Mar. 21-26 at the SuperTour Finals & Spring National Championships in Duluth, Minnesota.

“The team had an absolutely incredible week of racing at the SuperTour Finals & Spring National Championships to finish this season,” the Nordic Skiing coaching staff said. “We had season-best performances from the team all four race days, and this was a result of the absolute blast we had as a team all week long! Thank you and congratulations to all of our seniors on their truly outstanding careers for the Nordic Huskies, and thank you to all who supported us and cheered us on through this season.”

Thursday

Classic 10km Interval Start

Super Tour

The Huskies opened the SuperTour racing with eight Huskies tackling the Classic 10km Interval Start.

Skylar Patten placed 17th overall just a second behind alumni Reid Goble to lead the Black & Gold. Five additional Huskies competed in the Classic Individual Start, with Colin Freed holding down the second spot for MTU with a 25th-place finish. Parker Courte-Rathwell claimed 31st finishing less than two seconds outside of the top-30.

Mikkel Katla (48th place), Yanik Pauchard (50th place) and Sam Stertz (56th place) rounded out the Huskies finishers. 

Patten was the sixth collegiate finisher with Freed (10th), Parker (13th), Katla (18th) and Pauchard (19th) finishing among the top 20.

In the women’s race, Anabel Needham held down the 13th position through the first 3.3k before moving up one spot at the 6.6k mark showing a 27:59.2 time for 12th place overall. Alice McKnight also competed Thursday with a time of 30:17.9 for 28th place.

Needham was the fourth collegiate finisher with McKnight being 14th in the college field.

“We had an awesome start to the Championship event with three skiers in the top-10 collegiate with some of our best classic race results as a team overall this season,” mentioned Monahan Smith.

Saturday

Classic Sprint

National Championship

Day two showcased 11 Huskies competing in the Classic Sprint with Axel Aflodal and Anabel Needham leading the way. 

First-year Aflodal finished third in the quarterfinal, missing the semi-finals by only .07 seconds. He finished 16th overall being the fourth collegiate finisher. Parker Courte-Rathwell was the second finisher for the Black & Gold who placed 19th in the qualifying round and 29th overall with a crash in the quarterfinals. Jasper Johnston had his best classic qualifier of the second finishing less than a second out of qualifying to take 33rd overall.

Kalta (41st), Pauchard (43rd), Skylar Patten (50th) and Colin Freed (51st) also competed in the Classic Sprint. 

Needham led a group of four Huskies in the women’s race with an impressive 11th-place finish being the fifth collegiate finisher. Alice McKnight was the next finisher breaking top-10 collegiately with a ninth-place finish and 19th overall with her best sprint race to date.. First-year Bridget Burns had a breakthrough performance which landed her fifth in the junior division, 12th collegiately and 25th overall. Cat Stow rounded out the finishers in 37th place.

Anabel has been on the edge of qualifying for the semis in multiple National Championship sprints this season,” mentioned the Nordic Skiing coaching staff. “It was awesome for her to make the semis in her last National Championship sprint for the Huskies.”

Sunday

Skate Team Sprint

National Championship

Sunday presented a unique race format with the Skate Team Sprint which saw five men’s teams and three women’s teams.

Both teams had 10th place finishes with the men’s relay of Paker Courte-Rathwell and Axel Aflodal taking 10th overall and third collegiately in the men’s A final. Marie Sølverud Wangen and Anabel Needham paced to a 10th-place finish also taking third collegiately in the A final. 

“Honestly, this weekend didn’t feel extra different or any more special than the rest. I got to ski with some of my teammates and best friends, I still found joy in racing, and rode the wave of competition,” Needham mentioned. “Five years with MTU is one more year than I had originally planned, and I count on continuing to ski with my friends, though my uniform will be different. Big shoutout to Marie for battling in that team sprint with me, she is a real fighter! Thank you to MTU and the coaching staff that make every competitive opportunity a reality for us!”

“It was an absolutely incredible last race for the Huskies from Anabel,” added the coaching staff. “Downright courageous effort from Marie who was sick with a fever only four days ago to qualify in 10th overall and absolutely give everything for this team in the A final. Coach Will Haapala stepped in and stepped up for the team to partner with Sam Stertz to race the team sprint.”

Jasper Johnston and Mikkel Katla also made the men’s A final taking 14th overall and fifth collegiately. Johnston had a standout performance in the qualifier taking 10th overall. 

“I was super pumped with how my last races went! On Sunday,” Johnston commented. “I was able to put together the best sprint qualifier I ever had. It was pretty awesome to end my college career with a team sprint event and be able to ski with the best in the country in the A final.”

Olivia Laven and Alice McKnight took first in the B final, claiming seventh collegiately and 16th overall.

Tuesday

Skate 40/20km Mass Start

National Championship

The final day of competition displayed 10 Huskies competing in the skate distance races.

The men of Michigan Tech posted three top-10 collegiate finishes led by Skylar Patten, who placed ninth overall and fourth collegiately. He was joined by Tryg Solberg (19th overall/eighth collegiately) and Colin Freed (21st overall/ninth collegiately). Sam Stertz (40th), Parker Courte-Rathwell (43rd) and Yanik Pauchard (46th) rounded out the finishes for the Black & Gold.

“I had so much fun in my last race of the season,” Patten mentioned. “Probably some of the craziest conditions I’ve raced in but not the craziest conditions I’ve trained in Houghton so I was pretty confident and kept a smile on my face the whole warm-up. I had a really good start but fell and broke my pole on the second lap. However, I got super lucky with the pacing of the lead pack and was able to catch back on. I spent the rest of the race picking people off feeling incredibly good and working well with Brian Bushy from the University of Utah to reel people in. Feld really good to finish the season with my best race of the season.”

Olivia Laven was the low-stick for the Huskies in the women’s 20km race, taking 13th overall and third collegiately. Alice Mcknight placed 19th overall and seventh in the college field. Bridget Burns took fourth in the junior race and assistant coach Kristen Monahan Smith hopped in the race, taking 23rd overall.

“Getting the opportunity to race the Spring Series for the first time in my fourth and last year was so much fun,” Laven said. “I really wanted to focus on just having fun, which for me meant only racing the skate races and cheering on my teammates during the classic races. What made this weekend a little extra special was that my mom was able to travel from Sweden to see me race my last races as a Husky. I also got very surprised and a little emotional when some of our teammates who weren’t racing this weekend came out here to cheer, they’re just the best!

“The last race, the 40km, was a really fun way to end my collegiate career, with a format I have never raced before and some real midwestern weather…but, I was really enjoying it all; I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Lastly, I want to give a special shout-out to Synne for letting me borrow her skis. Thanks to her, and our coaches/waxers, I had rockets under my feet!”