Nilssen, Leitheiser finish 1,2 for Wildcats
Brillion, Wisc. — The NMU women’s nordic ski team found resounding success at the first CCSA conference ski event, claiming three of the top four finishes.
In temperatures dipping close to negative figures at the Ariens Nordic Center, the ‘Cats earned the top two podium spots in today’s skate interval start, and narrowly missed out on a podium sweep with the team’s fourth-place finisher.
Junior Henriette Nilssen (Nittedal, Norway) earned gold with a blistering time of 32:37.0, the quickest time among the field by nearly a minute and a half. Nilssen posted lap times of 8:02.4, 8:07.5, 8:10.7, and 8:16.4, all of which were the fastest among the respective lap times.
Earning silver with the only other time sub-34 minutes was senior transfer Greta Leitheiser (Bend, Oregon), who earned a podium finish with her time of 33:51.3. Leitheiser posted lap times of 8:12.2, 8:32.1, 8:24.6, and 8:42.3.
Della Bettendorf of the College of St. Scholastica earned bronze with a time of 34:09.5, and Graduate Student Lauren McCollor (Plymouth, Minnesota) posted her time of 34:10.5, missing a spot on the podium by just one second. McCollor’s lap one time of 8:08.2 was second only to Nilssen, before posting solid marks of 8:32.5, 8:46.7, and 8:42.9.
Junior Jordan Parent (Forest Lake, Minnesota) was the only other Wildcat in the top-20, as she finished 12th with a time of 36:04.6.
Sophomore Lena Kjelstrup (38:29.9) and freshman Monet Argeropoulos (38:50.9) finished 26th and 27th, respectively. Argeropoulos was one of 32 to compete in the 7.5km on Saturday, where she finished eighth with a time of 19:39.6. Argeropoulos posted lap times of 9:43.1 and 9:56.5.
Riley Grossklaus finished 32nd, Meija Peterson 36th, and Emma Klevenberg DNF.
