Huskies have big potential for next season
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech Nordic Ski Teams celebrated the 2025-26 season with their end-of-season banquet on April 17 at the coaches home along with members of our Nordic Race Organizing Committee and community supporters of the team.
Coach Tom Monahan Smith’s Quote:
With the addition of eight new members to the team for the 2025-26 season, this year was the start of a new chapter for the Nordic Huskies. We couldn’t have asked for more from the 2025-26 Nordic Huskies!
This team had the best academic record in our entire coaching tenure with a 3.86 cumulative team GPA, which speaks to just how much they value academic as well as athletic excellence. Our senior class collectively had their best competition season, with all 4 student-athletes achieving All-Region honors! We had an incredible year from our freshman class that achieved some of the top performances on the national stage! We had exemplary leadership from our returning student-athletes who mentored this new generation of Nordic Huskies on and off the trails.
Beyond academic and athletic achievements, what our coaches are most proud of is how the 2025-26 Nordic Huskies became a cohesive team that truly enjoyed the experience together!
Season Highlights:
- CCSA Combined Overall Team Champions
- UP Opener &
- MTU Scrimmage
- U.S. National Championships
- MTU CCSA Invitational
- Finished as top team in CCSA Regular Season Team Standings
- Men’s Team placed top 10 at NCAA National Championships, all members of Women’s Team scored at NCAA Championships, were the only CCSA team to qualify a full team to the NCAA National Championships
- 3.86 cumulative team GPA, 3.91 Women’s Team GPA, 3.80 Men’s Team GPA, 100% of Women’s Team made Dean’s List, 9 student-athletes with perfect 4.0 – highest cumulative team GPA in our 9 year coaching tenure!
Team Awards:
Most Improved Women’s Team:
Julia Junkkala
- Made a remarkable comeback this 2025-26 season from a season ending injury in 2024-25 through her dogged determination, competitiveness, and intrinsic motivation to succeed
- Qualified for NCAA National Championships
- Scored in top 30 in both races
- 3 CCSA wins
- Top 15 collegiate Skate 20km U.S. National Championships
- 7 CCSA podium finishes
- 3rd Skate 20km NCAA Regional Championships
Most Improved Men’s Team:
Markus Groethe
- Earned most improved though the success they achieved and exemplary professionalism they showed in their freshman transition to NCAA athletics
- 16th place finish in Classic 7.5km at NCAA National Championships, the top performance from an American freshman
- CCSA Rookie of the Year
- NCAA Central Region Champion in the Classic 7.5km
Most Outstanding Men’s Team:
Wes Campbell
- Wes had his greatest season in his senior year for the Nordic Huskies, leading the team and the CCSA throughout the season
- Top performance from the team with 12th place finish in Skate 20km at NCAA National Championships
- Top skate distance performance of his career! Truly special to have that performance at NCAA Championships senior year, and even more special because it was on his home course at Soldier Hollow, Utah where he grew up skiing
- CCSA Male Student-Athlete of the Year
- 5 CCSA wins
- 8 CCSA podiums
Most Outstanding Women’s Team:
Greta Hansen
- Greta earned most outstanding skier of the team for the second consecutive year
- 2 CCSA wins, the first of her student-athlete career
- 7 CCSA podium finishes
- 3rd ranked CCSA skier on the season
- Top 30 scoring finishes in both races at NCAA National Championships
Scholastic Achievement Women’s Team:
Erica Kazin
- Perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA as a sophomore
- Earned through her incredible work ethic as a dual-sport student-athlete who has competed in both Cross Country & Nordic for MTU
- Pre-med majoring in Chemistry
Scholastic Achievement Men’s Team:
AJ Westanmo
- 4.0 in fall semester freshman year
- Demonstrated he values academic-and-athletic excellence through is achievements in the classroom and on the race course
- 3rd place finish in Classic 7.5km at NCAA Regional Championships
- All-American performances at Junior National Championships
- Semi-finalist U.S. National Championships Classic Sprint
- Majoring in Software Engineering
Team Husky Men’s Team:
*This was awarded to two members of the Men’s Team
The team husky award comes from the “team dogs” in sled dog racing. The dogs in the middle of a sled dog racing team are known as team dogs. The number of team dogs depends on the size of the sled dog team; more team dogs means more “dogpower”! Success for the team is not only about individual success but also someone who embodies the team spirit and is a key contributor to our team performance & success.
- Sam had his best competition season in his senior year, achieving success and contributing to the teams performance through the consistent work he puts in every day
- Scored for the team at all CCSA competition weekends
- 3rd place for CCSA in Skate 20km at U.S. National Championships – MTU Men swept the podium
- 4th place finish in Classic 7.5km at NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships
- Qualified and supported the team as an alternate for NCAA National Championships
- Key contributor to our team performances as a true freshman, who brings a lot of hype and positive energy every day
- Qualified for NCAA National Championships as a true freshman
- 6 top 5 CCSA finishes, including two top 5 finishes at NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships
Team Husky Women’s Team:
*This was awarded to two members of the Men’s Team
- Bridget was a top contributor to our team success as well as a true team player day in and day out
- 5 CCSA podium finishes
- 3rd place finish in Classic 7.5km at NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships
- 22nd place finish in the Classic 7.5km at NCAA National Championships
- Hannah embraced the new team spirit in her transition to NCAA skiing, and contributed through her team scoring and support, and her caring and thankful attitude and action to support her fellow teammates.
- CCSA win in the Classic Sprint at U.S. National Championships, top 25 overall and top 12 collegiate
- 3 CCSA podium finishes, including 3rd in the MTU CCSA Invite Skate 20km were MTU Women swept the podium
- Qualified and supported the team as an alternate at NCAA National Championships
Harold Meese Sportsmanship Women’s Team:
Harold Meese was a longtime Dean of Students at Michigan Tech. He had a close working relationship with the athletic department and was viewed by many student-athletes as a “father figure.” All MTU Athletic Teams award team sportsmanship in Harold’s name to honor his service to MTU Athletics.
Cat Stow
- Cats’ everyday presence and actions for the last 4 years have helped lead the team and cultivate the culture we have today.
- She has been so impactful for this team. Cat is always coming up with fun things for the team to do together, she is always willing to lend a helping hand to her teammates and coaches. She is always running around town picking up anyone and everyone who needs a ride. She has been an amazing mentor to each younger class that has come in, she takes it upon herself to make sure they are welcome and shows them the ropes.
- She brings so much positivity, and is incredibly personable. She is a vocal leader and has been an outstanding role model for this team. She is such a supportive teammate, an exciting example of this is cheering on former athlete Parker in the Lake Placid World cup this year with a larger than life size cut out of his face!
- Cat had an incredible last ski race as a Husky, she was a fierce competitor and came away with a 7th place All-Region finish in the 20k mass start, scoring for the team in her final race as a Husky! She showed us all that if you can relax and smile or make a funny face in a race you have found the secret to enjoying it all! And when you enjoy it, you have success, because the enjoyment is the success itself!
- Henry had already graduated from Tech with his undergrad and worked for a year before coming back and giving it a go as an NCAA athlete while he got his Masters in Engineering Management. It’s a pretty unique story and we are so glad that he decided to come back and give this short distance world a chance.
- Henry is an endurance and adventure seeker, always finding these incredible endurance feets to compete in and really shows us all that skiing is one big adventure – for example, for the Easter Bunny Hoppet he skied to Swedetown Trails in Calumet from his house in Hancock, raced the 20k skate race, and then skied home, over 60k that day!
- Henry brings so much joy, laughter, and passion to this team, he was all in from the very beginning and fit seamlessly into the team, but has been a huge contributor to the team environment. Henry showed us all what it looks like to enjoy this sport for its simplicity, put two skis on your feet and a pair of poles and this sport can take you anywhere, and along the way he has left his teammates and coaches with a ton of great memories.
- Henry competed with heart. One of the best races of his career was Regional championships in Duluth, MN (pretty much his home course) skiing to 7th place All-Region honors in the 7.5 K classic race! Mostly sticking to skate races before his time here, this was truly an outstanding achievement for Henry!
- He has been on the other side of the sport as well, coaching the ski tigers, coaching and wax tech-ing at Junior Nationals, and serving as Chief of Competition at Super Tour Finals shows his thanks and passion for this sport.
- We thank Henry for taking this unique chance as a NCAA skier and his passion for this team and for the love of the sport!
National Collegiate All-Academic Team: United States Ski Coaches Association All-Academic Team by achieving a cumulative 3.5 or higher GPA.
Erica Kazin
Alex Pundsack
Cat Stow
Hannah Smart
Hailee Zimpel
Bridget Burns
Greta Hansen
Julia Junkkala
AJ Westanmo
Henry Campbell
Markus Groethe
Noa Kam-Magruder
Wes Campbell
