Huskies have three on the podium in the freestyle race
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams finished second at the 2026 CCSA Championship on Sunday. Northern Michigan edged the Huskies in the men’s, women’s, and overall standings to claim the conference title at Theodore Wirth Park.
“It was a super close competition, and we’re really satisfied with how our team competed, especially today in Sunday’s skate interval start race,” Tech coach Tom Monahan Smith said. “We left a few too many points on the table to be able to chase the title today, but with that being said, our women did win the day today, which was awesome, and our men were right there in a really close competition with NMU.
“We had a few unfortunate crashes from some of our scoring student-athletes that did affect our ability to really capitalize at the top, but the Huskies really skied well, in some challenging, unseasonably warm conditions. We also really showed that we’re not only just competitive with our rivals in the CCSA, but also with the top SuperTour pro athletes in the country, which just gives us a ton of confidence for the NCAA Championships, where we know that level is going to be as high, if not even higher than what we experienced this weekend.”
The Huskies raced in a 10K mass start classic on Saturday. Markus Groethe placed second, getting on the CCSA podium and finishing 13th overall. Wes Campbell was fourth in the CCSA and 16th overall, while Noa Kam-Magruder also scored for the Huskies in seventh in the CCSA and 30th overall. Sam Stertz was also in the top 10 in the CCSA, finishing 33rd overall.
Bridget Burns was fourth in the CCSA in the classic and 18th overall. Greta Hansen (5th CCSA / 21st overall), Julia Junkkala (7th CCSA / 24th overall), and Hannah Smart (9th CCSA / 29th overall) were also in the top 10 in the women’s race on Saturday.
The weekend wrapped up with an individual start 10K skate on Sunday. The women had a pair of podium finishes with Julia Junkkala in second (10th overall) and Greta Hansen in third (12th overall). Hannah Smart (6th CCSA / 23rd overall) and Bridget Burns (7th CCSA / 24th overall) also had top 10 CCSA finishes.
Wes Campbell led the men with a CCSA podium finish in third and 14th overall. Markus Groethe was fourth in the CCSA and 17th overall. Sam Stertz placed 40th overall and 7th in the collegiate standings.
