Soldberg, Freed pace Huskies; NMU’s Kraftson finishes fourth
COURTESY NMU – HOUGHTON, Mich. – The NMU men’s nordic ski team opened its conference championship weekend a few hours west in Houghton with the mass start 20k.
Adrik Kraftson led the ‘Cats, finishing fourth with his finish time of 55:31.2. Kraftson got a hot start out of the gate, holding the first-place position after the first two laps, posting lap times of 14:17.1 and 13:33.5. Kraftson then slipped to fourth after the 15k lap, and would maintain that position across the finish line.
Tryg Solberg and Colin Freed of Michigan Tech claimed the top two spots, taking advantage of their home trails. Chase High of College of St. Scholastica rounded out the podium in third.
The next ‘Cat was Luke Fricker, finishing seventh with a final time of 57:25.9. Fricker posted lap times of 14:27.1, 13:52.7, 14:45.8, and 14:20.2, staying in his seventh position for a majority of the race.
Jonathan Clarke finished 13th with his finish time of 58:51.9. Kristoffer Karsrud, Hendrik Peterson, and Mathias Haugen finished 27, 28, 29, respectively, to round out the ‘Cats skiers.
The Green and Gold now look ahead tomorrow to the 7.5k individual classic. The men start their race at 11:30 a.m. from Houghton.
