Hosts Northern Michigan heads into the final day of the CCSA championships with the team lead on both the men’s and women’s side following the first day of action at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, Mich. Alaska’s Logan Hanneman dominated the men’s 10K interval start classic, but NMU took the next three spots to open up a four-point advantage over the Nanooks. The Wildcats then went 1-2 in the women’s 5K event, with Mary Kate Cirelli and Hannah Boyer posting the top two times, to give them a comfortable 16-point advantage on the women’s side.

With cold (single-digit) but steady temperatures, sunshine and no wind, the weather played little role in determining today’s races, and Hanneman took advantage of the ideal conditions to claim his first CCSA win and an individual title. Described by his head coach, Scott Jerome, as a typically conservative starter, the junior put the hammer down early and never let up, scorching the 10K course in 20:17.8 — 29 seconds better than his nearest CCSA competitor.

“He had a game plan from the get-go,” Jerome said. “He felt good, was confident in his body and confident in his skis, so he just went for it. Sometimes those plans don’t work out, but today it did, and it was excited to see.”

A pair of Northern Michigan skiers joined Hanneman on the podium: Kyle Bratrud’s time of 20:46.8 good enough to earn the silver for the junior, while teammate and freshman sensation Fredrik Schwencke strengthened his case for an NCAA place with a third-place finish.

The Wildcats George Cartwright was next across the line, meaning all three of Northern Michigan’s scoring skiers placed in the top four.

“Usually, going 1-5-7 as we [Alaska] did today is enough to win you a meet,” Jerome said, “but not when someone else goes 2-3-4.”

Alaska’s Michael Fehrenbach earned a top-five finish with his time of 21:11.9, despite admittedly skiing at less than 100 percent. St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer placed sixth; the junior completing his 10K in 21:15.9. Another Nanook, Max Olex, continued his string of three straight top-tens in CCSA events in which Alaska attends by taking seventh in 21:18.1.

“I was really pleased with how Max raced today,” Jerome said. “He’s coming off of an injury just before Thanksgiving that set him back, but he’s just been steadily making progress and improving every race. He’s a man on a mission to get to Utah [to the NCAA championships].”

A trio of St. Scholastica skier rounded out the men’s top ten, with John Wessling taking eighth, Chris Parr ninth and Scott Johanik 10th.

On the women’s side, it was all Northern Michigan, as Cirelli cruised to her first CCSA title. The sophomore showed why she is one of the region’s top skiers in the classic tracks, finishing her 5K loop in 11:48.3 to top the field by a full 21 seconds.

Cirelli’s nearest competitor was also wearing green and gold, as teammate Hannah Boyer landed second place, as well as valuable points toward an NCAA berth in an increasingly competitive women’s field, with her time of 12:09.6. St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi earned a podium spot as well, forced to settle for third after her time was just three-tenths of a second behind Boyer’s pace.

Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin took fourth in 12:15.6. to earn her team’s top spot, while St. Olaf’s Paige Schember finished fifth in 12:23.5. Felicia Gesior rounded out the scoring for Northern Michigan; her sixth-place finish wrapping up the classical crown for the Wildcats.

Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson earned seventh place with her time of 12:32.2., just ahead of St. Scholastica’s Sarah Allen – the reigning CCSA women’s skier of the week boosting her NCAA credentials with her eighth-place finish Saturday. Alaska’s Aly McPhetres and Green Bay’s Kailey Mucha rounded out the top 10 on a fast and competitive day of racing on the women’s side, as only 36 seconds separated second place from 15th.

The CCSA Championships will be decided tomorrow as the starting gun for the women’s 15K mass start skate sounds at 10:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow, followed by the men’s 20K skate. For complete results from today’s races, please visit http://www.superiortiming.com/2014/02/ccsa-championships-2014/.