Second, third and fifth place finishes
BRILLION, Wis. – The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams raced at the Ariens Nordic CCSA Invitational hosted by UW-Green Bay. The Huskies won day two of the event with the mixed-gender relay.
“We couldn’t be more proud of how the team skied in Sunday’s relay,” coach Tom Monahan Smith said. “The CCSA relay day is such a special race day for us, because it’s the one day in the competition season where we truly get to compete as a team! We won the CCSA relay day by eight points with our second, third, and fifth-place relay team finishes. Every single student-athlete on our three relay teams raced their heart out for their team and the success they achieved shows just how much they want it not for themselves but for each other! This is the competition we wanted to win the most this weekend as this is the one that meant the most to us as a team!”
The squad with Marie Sølverud Wangen, Tryg Solberg, Greta Hansen, and Colin Freed placed second in the race. Alice McKnight, Parker Courte-Rathwell, Bridget Burns, and Axel Aflodal teamed up to place third. Cat Stow, Sam Stertz, Ingrid Halverson, and Caden Albrecht finished fifth.
Tech outscored Northern Michigan 128-120 in the team standings in the relay with UW-Green Bay and Saint Scholastica tallying 100 points.
The Huskies raced a 15k individual start classic on Saturday. Marie Sølverud Wangen, Greta Hansen, and Alice McKnight finished in spots three through five. Colin Freed paced the men’s team with a sixth-place showing, followed closely by Tryg Solberg in seventh. Axel Aflodal was also in the top 10 in ninth position.
“Saturday was unique because nearly the entire men’s field double-poled the race as it was a very flat course,” added Monahan Smith. “There were also three women that double-poled the race without kick wax, including Marie who finished third, and Alice who finished fifth and that is a testament to just how incredibly strong they are!”
Tech finished second to Northern Michigan in Saturday’s team scoring in the overall and female standings. The men placed third.
The Huskies are off this weekend before the Saint Scholastica CCSA Invitational on Feb. 1-2 in Duluth at the Grand Avenue Nordic Center.
