This past weekend brought the first NCAA qualifier race weekend of four in the Midwest. Northwoods Nordic Ski Club and CAVOC hosted the CCSA in Rhinelander, WI. The trails were in fantastic shape due to the many hours the trail crew and volunteers put in. The big talking point for the weekend was the changes made to the racing schedule and distance due to the cold weather. Extreme cold weather caused the organizers to move the shortened mass start classic to Saturday, and interval starts to Sunday. In addition to switching days, start times were moved to the warmest parts of the day in the afternoon. The steps taken by the race organizers proved effective, as both races were able to go off as planned!

Saturday was the warmer of the two days with highest reaching into the single digits. Finding kick was not going to be an issue with the cold weather and hard tracks that CAVOC had up to offer. Finding fast skis was the challenge for the coaches. NMU and MTU clearly found the correct combination as they made up the entirety of the podium in both genders. In the men’s race, there was a seven-man pack for most of the race represented by NMU, MTU, and CSS. It was Zak Ketterson (NMU) who proved victorious on the day and took the win. Closely followed behind was team mate Kjetil Bannerud and Kristofer Vollset (MTU). It was a similar affair in the women’s mass start with a pack of 5 ladies through the first half of the race. As the second lap started, 3 women started to break away from the rest. It came down to the wire, but Nicole Schneider (NMU) proved once again to be the cream of the crop and had the fastest time of the day. Sarah Goble (MTU) finished very closely behind in 2nd place and Abigail Jarzin (NMU) finished 3rd.

Sunday brought another round of cold weather that forced many competitors not to toe the line. While these decisions were made by the athletes and coaches, the races were still successful none the less. The first race of the day was the women’s 5km skate. After a second place finish in the previous day, Sarah Goble (MTU) rose to the occasion and took the top step on the podium on day 2 of racing. Teammate Amanda Kautzer narrowly edged out Sadie Peterson (UWGB) for second place. This was Peterson’s first trip to the CCSA podium in her collegiate career. It was a close race in the men’s field for the podium. MTU Redshirt Mitch Delong was the fastest skier on the day. Teammates Patrick Acton and Thomas Bye rounded out the CCSA Podium.

MTU took advantage of the cold temperatures over the weekend and locked up both the men’s (190 pts) and women (186 pts) overall team titles. On the women’s side, it was host school UWGB finishing in 2nd (147 pts) and CSS in 3rd (144 pts). It was a flip of the other side of the podium in the men’s field with CSS taking 2nd (168 pts) and UWGB taking 3rd (130 pts).

It will be another short break for the athletes with another weekend of racing on tap. The second CSSA NCAA qualifier will take place back in Ishpeming at Al Quall Recreational Area. Hosted by NMU, the races will be a 5/10 km freestyle interval start on Saturday and a 15/20 km classic mass start on Sunday.

The University of Wisconsin – Green Bay (UWGB), College of Saint Scholastica (CSS), and St. Cloud State University (SCSU) represented the CCSA at the Gitch Gami Games in Cable, WI this past weekend. This race venue is unique in that the starting line will be skied across by thousands of skiers in one month by competitors in the largest cross country race in North America, The American Birkebeiner. The racers seem to get a little bit of adrenaline at this venue due to the stadium set-up and loud cheering by many spectators.

The Saturday races consisted of Classic Sprints. It was a cold start to the morning, but the race organizers were able to go on with the race as scheduled and put on a great event. The collegiate racers, qualifying 11 of the 14 total collegiate racers into the heats, dominated the men’s field. Green Bay made a big push in the heats by moving 6 out of 7 men into the semi-finals. The day ended with a Green Bay double podium with Jake Ajax and Tom Woolhouse in 1st and 2nd overall, followed by teammate Cory Rouw in 5th place (3rd collegiate).

It was a similar affair in the women’s race with a big portion of the heats consisting of collegiate athletes. It was Scholastica that made the moves in the heats to bring 5 women in the semifinals. The day ended with the 24th fastest qualifier Samatha Benzing moving all the way up into 2nd overall, followed by teammate Hannah Bettendorf. Nicole Gilman finished off the CCSA Podium in 8th overall. The overall winner on the day was Lucinda Anderson from LNR.

The Sunday races brought a two-hour delay due to the cold. This allowed the coaches some extra time to dial in the athlete’s skis and get ready for a great day of racing. Both men and women completed 3 laps of a 3.3k loop. In the men’s race teammate Emil Book Bratbak, and Nicholas Matelich (CSS) broke away from the field during the first lap and skied with each other for the rest of the race. It was Jack Christianson (CSS) that made a big move during the second half of the race to close the gap down to less than 10 seconds to finish in 3rd place.

The women’s was broken apart early by the pace set by the back-to-back overall winner Lucinda Anderson (LNR). This was the only podium shared by more the one CCSA school for the weekend. Sadie Peterson (UWGB), Cecelia Boyle (CSS), and Maddie McKeefry (UWGB) finished 4th, 7th, and 10th respectively.

The Gitchi Gami Games provided a good opportunity for CCSA skiers to fine tune as they head into next weekend’s Rhinelander CCSA race. On tap is a 5/10 km Skate Interval Start and 15/20 km Classic Mass Start.

The US National Cross Country Championships took place shortly after the new year in Craftsbury, VT. These world-class trails are located in the remote northern parts of Vermont. Home to many big events, the athletes competing here were in for some great racing.

While there were four races over the course of the week, the two important ones in relation to the CCSA were the individual classic and freestyle sprint races. These two events were the first of 10 NCAA qualifying races for the region. The other two races during the week were classic sprints and a freestyle mass start.

The first race of the week was the individual classic races. Starting things off with a bang, the NMU men went 1-2-5 in the college rankings (8th, 12th, and 17th overall). Zak Ketterson took the top spot in the collegiate podium, closely followed by teammate Ian Torchia. Kjetil Banerud was the third Wildcat to finish off the impressive start. On the women’s side of things, the NMU Wildcats swept the CCSA podium for the first time this season finishing 15th, 19th, and 20th in the collegiate field (40th, 48th, and 49th overall). Nicole Schneider got her week started off on the right foot with her fast time on the day. Teammates Julie Ensrud and Abigail Jarzin finished within seconds of each other to finish the CCSA sweep.

Only 1 day later was the 2nd of 4 races, being the classic sprints. It was a second strong day in a row for the NMU men with Keterson repeating as the fastest collegiate skier (6th overall). Just missing out on qualifying for the A-Final, Daniel Streinz (NMU) was the second collegiate skier (7th overall). Finishing the CCSA podium sweep (and nearly collegiate podium sweep) was Mathias Rolid (NMU) as the 4th collegiate skier (11th overall). On the women’s side, the lone qualifier from the CCSA was Sarah Bezdicek (NMU) as the 7th collegiate skier (28th overall). Nicole Schneider (NMU) was the 11th collegiate skier (37th overall) and Julie Ensrud was the 27th collegiate skier (66th overall).

All of the athletes were given a one day rest day before picking up on the 3rd day of racing. The longest event of the championships was the 20/30km freestyle mass start races. Once again it was the NMU Men’s team leading the CCSA field at the US National Championships. Kjetil Banerud led the CCSA field as the 3rd collegiate skier (18th overall). Only two seconds further behind was teammate Zak Ketterson finishing as the 4th collegiate skier (20th overall). Ian Torchia rounds out the NMU Wildcat CCSA podium sweep as the 5th collegiate skier (22nd overall). Schneider once again leads the CCSA field as the 6th collegiate skier (18th overall). Sarah Goble (MTU) makes her return to the CCSA podium as the 12th collegiate skier (28th overall). Julie Ensrud finished the CCSA podium as the 17th collegiate skier (34th overall).

The final day of racing was the second of the CCSA qualification races. This marks as the first time that a sprint race is used for an NCAA qualifier. NMU finished their stellar week on a high note with having two men qualify for the A-Final. Daniel Streinz finished as the 2nd collegiate skier (4th overall) and Zak Ketterson was 3rd collegiate skier (6th overall). Kjetil Banerud (NMU) once again finished on the CCSA podium as the 6th collegiate skier (16th overall). Three CCSA women were able to qualify for the senior heats. Nicole Schneider made it into the quarterfinals finishing as the third collegiate skier (14th overall). Teammate Sarah Bezdicek finished as the 5th collegiate skier (17th overall). Rounding out the CCSA podium was Amanda Kautzer finishing as the 6th collegiate skier (20th overall).

In the background of all the racing is the College Cup. This takes the results from only the college teams during the week of racing. NMU took top honors, topping the men’s events while the NMU women finished in third. Combined, NMU was the top scoring college in the country with 709 points, more than 40 points in front of the runner up. Zak Ketterson was also named as the Collegiate Grand Champion being the highest placed college skier through the entire week.

Another set of qualifiers that take place based on the results from the National Championships are team selections for the U23 and U20 World Championships. Three CCSA skiers qualified to be apart of these teams that will be traveling to Lahti, Finland for the championships. Zak Ketterson, Ian Torchia, and Daniel Streinz (NMU) all qualified for the championships at the end of the month.

The next set of races are back in the Midwest. All teams will meet at the Birkie Trail Head for a CCSA/CXC Cup on the 19th and 20th. There will be a classic sprint and a classic mass start race for the weekend.