Michigan Tech’s Haakon Hjelstuen and Ulrika Axelsson skied to victory in Sunday’s CCSA Sprint Championships held at Spirit Mountain Nordic Center in Duluth, Minnesota.
A 1.4 kilometer freestyle sprint, held on a winding and technical trail made for exciting racing. After a qualifying sprint 18 racers advanced to the semifinal heats, with the top two from each heat advancing to the final and third and fourth place skiers moving on to the B final.
In the first men’s heat Hjelstuen, the fastest qualifier of the day with a time of 2:57.9, cruised to first while his Michigan Tech teammate Sam Holmes took second. David Joda, also of MTU finished third and St. Scholastica’s Calvin Mehrhof was fourth to move on to the B final.
In the second heat St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer and Joe Dubay dueled over the course of the race, with Schommer taking the lead up the final climb into the finish to win the heat with Dubay taking second. Gerrit Garberich of CSS and Thomas Kendrick of MTU advanced to the B final.
The last semifinal heat was led by Chris Parr, skiing in the Open division. Kyle Hanson of MTU took second to move on to the final, while Reitler Hodgert of CSS and Josh Blakenship of Gustavus moved on the B final.
In the men’s B final Garberich and Reitler led the race from the starting gun, until Michigan Tech’s David Joda pulled into the lead heading into the downhill, 500 meters from the finish. Joda demonstrated his speed and strength on the final climb, leaving the rest of the field behind to win the B final comfortably. St. Scholastica’s Mehrhof took second while Gustavus’s Blankenship edged out CSS’s Hodgert who faded late in the race.
The men’s final was led from the start by Hjelstuen, who took control of the race early, with Parr and Schommer in close pursuit. On the final climb Hjelstuen attacked, leaving behind Schommer and Parr to battle for second. Heading into the finish Hjelstuen glanced back, and seeing that he was not under pressure, went for a stylish finish, skiing backwards across the line to win the day.
Parr crossed second, and Schommer third. MTU’s Hanson and Holmes went 4th and 5th respectively, while Joe Dubay of CSS finished 6th, his race hampered by a broken pole.
“Haakon pretty much led from start to finish,” said Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. Of Hjelstuen’s method of finishing the race, Haggenmiller chuckled, “that’s a Norwegian thing, he’s a heck of a sprinter so he’s able to go fast enough where he’s able to hot dog it backwards through the finish line.”
“I thought the whole team skied great this weekend,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “Paul [Schommer] looked like his form was quite good, Joe [Dubay] showed a lot of life today, and the format that we don’t get to race much let a lot of others on our team shine today, which I love to see.”
Heat 1 in the women’s sprint race was led initially by St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed, the fastest qualifier of the day, and her teammate Evelyn Delong. Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson skied behind the two Saints, moving in behind Ahmed until the final climb where she attacked, winning the heat with Ahmed in second. MTU’s Carolyn Lucca and Green Bay’s Bree Mucha went 3 and 4 in the heat and advanced to the B final.
The second women’s heat was led from the starting gun by MTU’s Lisa Koenig and Green Bay’s Kailey Mucha. Koenig led the race for more than half the distance until CSS’s Ellie Evans made a late charge up the climb to win the heat with St. Olaf’s Piper Bain in second. Koenig and Allison Ternes of CSS moved on the B final.
The third and final semifinal heat was controlled from start to finish by CSS skier Anita Kirvesniemi. Late in the race Liz Peterson of CSS attacked and challenged Kirvesniemi, but a crash in the final meters put her out of contention. Gustavus Adolphus’s Marit Sonnesyn in second. Nora Gilbertson of CSS and Maria Hauer of St. Cloud State University advanced to the B final.
The B final was led out of the gates by the Michigan Tech duo of Koenig and Lucca. Koenig looked strong throughout the heat, with Ternes of CSS closing down the gap to Koenig late in the race, nearly catching the Huskie in the final meters. Lucca skied to third, while Mucha took 4th, Gilbertson 5th, and Hauer 6th.
Saint Cloud State University Head Coach Jeremy Frost said, “Maria [Hauer] has battled illness and injury on and off this season so it was great to see her qualify in 11th and stay in, or right on the pack in the semis and B final.” Frost added that it was “nice to see Kiersten [Haaversen] get so close to qualifying for the heats. That is a great result for her and should give her confidence moving forward.”
Kirvesniemi led the women’s final with an explosive start, creating space for her teammates Evans and Ahmed to follow behind her. St. Scholastica looked to be in control of the front of the race, but MTU’s Axelsson found space to ski into second place behind Kirvesniemi. Axelsson made her move at the base of the final climb, charging up the hill and ahead of Kirvesniemi. St. Scholastica’s Ahmed responded to Axelsson’s move and took the outside corner at the crest of the climb in a bid to pass Axelsson in the final straight away—but the Michigan Tech sophomore from Sweden held on for the victory.
“Ulrika [Axelsson] kind of put herself in second place where she was able to make a move on that final hill,” said Haggenmiller. “She made a really good move and was able to really take it to the rest of the field.”
“It was everything an A final should be” Salmela said about the women’s race. “The course is such that you really want the best line on the final turn even if perhaps you’re dying, because it’s a long way around the outside to take the win. Ulrika made the right decision at the right time, but Sharmila [Ahmed] almost still had enough to go around. It was really a great way to end the weekend.”
St. Scholastica’s Evans finished just ahead of Kirvesniemi to take third, while Piper Bain took 5th for St. Olaf and Sonnesyn 6th for Gustavus.
St. Olaf Head Coach Tom Jorgenson was pleased with Bain’s result. “Piper [Bain] was our top girl today, she’s a junior transfer and she didn’t ski race during her first two years in college, and she hadn’t done a sprint race since high school so I had no idea what to expect from her today. She’s a quick, scrappy skier; I’m super excited for her today.”
Full results can be found at http://www.boreal.org/~durfee/