Kyle Bratrud of Northern Michigan University continued his excellent form on Thursday, taking third in the men’s 30 kilometer classic mass start race while St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi took the top honors for the CCSA women by skiing to 17th overall in the 20 kilometer race.

In the men’s race, Bratrud led early on, with his teammates Fredrick Schwencke, Adam Martin, and Erik Soderman all skiing not far behind him in the lead pack. Northern Michigan Head Coach Sten Fjeldheim said the plan for Bratrud was for him to “go with the flow, and not lead to much.” Once in the race though, Bratrud found himself in a position to lead, and continued to through the first 20 kilometers, when NMU teammate Schwencke tried to break away from the pack with Kris Freeman in tow.

Freeman, a four time Olympian for the US, “really benefited from Freddy,” said Fjeldheim of Schwencke’s attack. “He’s an awesome classic skier.” Even if Schwencke’s bold move may have ultimately hurt his final placement, Fjeldheim said he likes to “see that attitude—to not be intimidated.”

The main pack soon caught up to Schwencke and Freeman, though Freeman would ultimately break away near the end of the race, leaving eight skiers including Bratrud to battle it out for the remaining podium places. In the end Bratrud had the strength to move into a good position as the race closed down. With a strong double pole finish to put him in third, Fjeldheim said, “Kyle’s upper body work this year really paid off.”

“Kyle had an incredible race,” said Fjeldheim. “He tends to be a decent classic skier, but today he was great.”

Schwencke, Martin, and Soderman placed 11th through 13th, respectively, for NMU followed by Michigan Tech’s Haakon Hjelstuen in 14th, and Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks in 18th. Paul Schommer of St. Scholastica was 31st and UAF’s Kenneth Brewer was 33rd along with teammate Jan Cech in 39th.

The junior men competed in a 10 kilometer race with NMU freshman Ian Torchia winning the race overall, with a time of 30:46.6, crushing the junior men’s field by over 28 seconds. “The kid’s got an engine,” said Fjeldheim of Torchia. Michigan Tech’s Tom Bye finished the day in 10th, another promising showing from the freshman.

The women’s 20 kilometer classic race was held under lightly snowing skies. Jordyn Ross of NMU was the leading CCSA woman at the halfway mark, in 22nd overall. Just behind her was Michigan Tech’s Ulrika Axelsson, St. Scholastica’s Anita Kirvesniemi, and Felicia Gresior of NMU. Chasing those women were Sophie Schimpl of NMU, Sharmila Ahmed of St. Scholastica, and Megan Edic of NMU.

Kirvesniemi, from Simpele, Finland, holds a FIS license as an international skier and not a USSA license. With few FIS races in the CCSA last season that she could use to gain a better ranking, she had to start the day with 65 women ahead of her. “She did a good job of weaving her way up,” said St. Scholastica Head Coach Chad Salmela. “After two kilometers she was in a good position. When I saw her she was already in 28th, and she ended up finishing in 17th.”

Salmela said that Kirvesniemi, who transferred from the University of New Mexico to St. Scholastica in 2013, has been “training, and racing, better than she has in years.”

“She’s a gifted classic skier,” said Salmela. “I guess she gets that from her parents.” Kirvesniemi comes from an illustrious ski family, her mother swept all the gold medals for Finland in the 1984 Olympics, and her father was a 1989 World Champion.

Kirvesniemi skied a solid second lap to move ahead of Axelsson and Ross to finish as the top CCSA woman in a time of 1:13:57.8. “To get a win in the CCSA for Anita [Kirvesniemi] is really great, and she skied so smart and determined,” said Salmela.

Following her a little over 25 seconds later Axelsson crossed the line for MTU, in 20th overall. Ross was 24th and Gresior was 25th for NMU, with Ahmed 26th for St. Scholastica. Ahmed, who finished 5th in the CCSA, started a little flat, said Salmela, but got steadily faster over the course of the race. “She was fighting the whole way; she skied the last four kilometers faster than Anita.”

NMU’s Schimpl finished 28th, and Edic 32nd, and Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin was 33rd, with teammate Alice Flanders 35th.

Leading the CCSA in the juniors 5 kilometer race was Vivian Hett for NMU in 6th, followed by her teammate Caroline Brisbois in 7th. Allison Ternes was 9th for St. Scholastica.

Overall it was great day for the Saints women, many of whom Salmela said had the best races of their season on Thursday. “The women shined,” he said. “It was a red letter day.”

Full results can be found at myresults.com

 

The second day of the US Cross Country Championships proved to be another good showing for CCSA skiers with Logan Hanneman of The University of Alaska Fairbanks winning the B Final, Michigan Tech’s Haakon Hjelstuen third overall, and teammate Deedra Irwin skiing to tenth for the women.

“It’s an exciting day for the program,” said Michigan Tech Head Coach Joe Haggenmiller. “We haven’t had anyone in the sprint finals for a few years, so to have some people make the finals is pretty exciting.”

An incredible 7 inches of snow reportedly fell over the morning of the race, making a trying sprint course all the more slow and difficult. First overall in qualifying was Michigan Tech student Haakon Hjelstuen, with a time of 4:23.2. Hjelstuen, on exchange  from NTNU in Trondheim, Norway, has been training with MTU’s team, but is currently ineligible to compete for the Huskies.

Haggenmiller says he hopes to resolve Hjelstuen’s status with the NCAA quickly. The Norwegian brings a wealth of experience to the Huskies, having notched multiple sub-90 point FIS races in his skiing career. Haggenmiller praised Hjelstuen saying, “Haakon’s really brought a great element to the team.” Hjelstuen not only posted the fastest qualifying time of the day overall, but he worked his way through the preliminary heats with relative ease, winning his semifinal and taking third overall in the final heat.

It was a good day for the CCSA men overall, with eight skiers through to the heats, not including Hjelstuen. Fredrik Schwencke of Northern Michigan University led the CCSA men in qualifying, posting the fifth fastest time. Schwencke missed out on a spot in the semifinal heats by just over two seconds to finish 13th overall.

Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks bested Hjelstuen in their quarterfinal heat and missed making the final heat by less than half a second. Unlucky to not have advanced despite taking third in his semifinal heat, Hanneman showed his sprinting prowess, and endurance, to win the B Final in an emphatic fashion, crossing the finish line with a four and a half second margin over his closest competitor.

The other top CCSA men on Tuesday were Isaac Lammers of Alaska Fairbanks in 21st, Joe Dubay of St. Scholastica in 22nd, and Reitler Hodgert of St. Scholastica was 24th, and Jonas Loeffler of Alaska Fairbanks in 25th. Rounding out the top thirty for Michigan Tech were Sam Holmes in 27th, and Tom Kendrick in 30th. “Sam really surprised me today,” Haggenmiller said of Holmes standout performance. “We should be moving up the College Cup rankings now.”

The CCSA women were led by Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin. 11th in qualifying, Irwin worked her way through her quarterfinal heat, and finished fourth in the B Final to take tenth overall.

“I expected her to be competitive,” said Haggenmiller of Irwin. “She was 9th last year at US Nationals in qualifying, but she took a pretty bad crash [last year] in the quarterfinals, and my thought was that if she could get through qualifying today and stay on her feet, she would do well.”

Anita Kirvesniemi of St. Scholastica proved that she is in form this season, skiing the fifth fastest qualifier of the day overall, and was the CCSA women’s top qualifier with a time of 5:23.1, just ahead of NMU’s Vivian Hett who qualified in sixth.

Only Irwin was able to navigate her way through the quarterfinals, with Hett finishing 13th overall, Kirvesniemi 16th, and Jordyn Ross of NMU in 28th.

Haggenmiller praised the work of those involved in making the races happen, saying, “the race crew has been doing an outstanding job.”

“Everyone’s getting to experience what we get to every winter,” said Haggenmiller. “I hope they’re having fun and enjoying it.”

Full results can be found at myresults.com

Northern Michigan University displayed a dominating performance on the opening day of US Nationals and NCAA qualifying in Houghton, Michigan. Cold and gusty winds made for difficult conditions but easy waxing in what would be an excellent showing for the CCSA.

Kyle Bratrud led the way, crushing the men’s 15 kilometer freestyle field with a time of 42:01.6, an incredible 50 seconds faster than second place Kris Freeman. The victory marks the first national title for the Minnesota native, and a key step toward securing a place on the U-23 National Team to compete at World Juniors in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

NMU coach Sten Fjeldheim didn’t expect Bratrud to win, but he said, “I knew it was a possibility, and not just him: we have Adam Martin, Fredrik Schwencke, and Erik Soderman. We have four guys that have all been pushing each other. I knew we had four guys in the corral who could be in the top ten if they had a good day. So it was just a pleasant surprise to have someone who won.”

“Kyle has definitely been one of our better skaters this year,” said Fjeldheim, “I guess it was a little bit of a surprise that he won by so much.”

While Bratrud led the Wildcats, his teammate Schwencke enjoyed a great day in Houghton, placing fifth overall. Rounding out third place in the CCSA was Logan Hanneman of Alaska Fairbanks who finished eleventh overall.

UAF assistant coach Christina Turman called Hanneman’s race “great and well-deserved. He went hard from the start and put in a gutsy performance in poor racing conditions.”

NMU’s Adam Martin skied to thirteenth overall, and his freshman teammate Ian Torchia placed sixteenth. St. Olaf’s Jake Brown was twentieth overall—the sixth CCSA man to place in the top twenty at US Nationals.

“I’ve got seven guys on the team and they all train together,” said Fjedheim. “There’s been a lot of good camaraderie on the team, and a really healthy atmosphere. On interval days the slowest guy and the fastest guy—they’re just trying to push each other. I think Kyle’s been fortunate this year: Adam’s been super fit and challenging him in the running workouts, and Fredrik and Erik have been challenging him in the rollerski workouts.”

“It’s all about having a group of athletes that are motivated and want to win. You put them all together and give them a little direction, and a lot of things are possible.”

The CCSA women also enjoyed a great opening day at US Nationals, with six women in the top thirty. Jordyn Ross of NMU was the top skier for the CCSA in the women’s 10 kilometer freestyle, finishing sixteenth overall with a time of 32:06.9.

She was followed closely by teammate Kristen Bourne, just 7.1 seconds off of Ross’s pace.

Taking third for CCSA was Alice Flanders of Michigan Tech, in 20th overall. “I’m pretty excited about the results today,” said Michigan Tech coach Joe Haggenmiller. “Alice [Flanders] had a super day, and Tom [Bye, 32nd] put himself in a legitimate contending spot for the World Junior Championship.”

Rounding out the top for the CCSA were three more skiers from NMU: freshmen Vivian Hett, 23rd overall, and Caroline Brisbois, 26th, and junior Felicia Gresior in 30th.

Fjeldheim credits the arrival of four new freshmen this fall to being instrumental in the success of his women’s team this season. “On the women’s side we had four new freshman women…they mixed in real well with the other group [of senior skiers] and ran a few cross country races. They are three of the four top cross country runners at NMU.”

The freshmen elevated the quality of the dryland workouts. Fjeldheim said, “Jordyn [Ross] had this group of girls pushing her and I think that was really healthy for her. They worked well together, they were really ambitious [in dryland].”

Said Fjeldheim of his women’s team, “I was really pleased with how they skied today. I think our young skiers have the potential to do what Kyle Bratrud did today. When he came in as a freshman he wasn’t one of our top guys, but he had some really good upperclassmen to push him and to learn from, and I think that creates a healthy program.”

Fjeldheim said the plan for the rest of the Championships was to “stay healthy and just prepare our skis for the next race and keep fighting.”

Full results can be found at www.myrace.com

 

Second-place finishes for both Alaska’s Max Olex and Northern Michigan’s Rosie Frankowski in the mass start freestyle races wrapped up a banner week for the CCSA at the NCAA Championships at Soldier Hollow Resort in Utah. In addition to the pair of silver medals, the region’s skiers also collected six more All-American places to bring its total to 11 for the championships. Olex, NMU’s Fredrik Schwencke (sixth) and St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer (eighth) all cracked the top 10 on the men’s side while Frankowski, St. Olaf’s Paige Schember (seventh) and Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders (10th) earned All-American status for the women.

Olex and Frankowski’s performances were especially poignant. Both seniors, the two skiers were in essence competing in their final collegiate event, and each marked the occasion with arguably the finest race of their careers.

On the bubble headed into regionals, Olex needed a big performance in Houghton to even make it to the NCAAs, and, having accomplished that goal, made the most of his chance Saturday. Around 15th place heading into the final lap of the 20K race, Olex refused to let a pair of Colorado skiers pull away from the lead pack, nailing the final downhill section to slingshot his way up to the top before hammering through the final uphill.

“Max didn’t just have the race of the day for our team, he had the race of his life,” Alaska head coach Scott Jerome joked afterwards. “On that last uphill, he was just out of his mind. It was an incredible finish.”

Schwencke and Schommer, meanwhile, helped make up a massive pack of skiers finishing just behind Olex, as less than three seconds separated third place from 12th. Schwencke worked his way through the traffic to claim sixth place, while Schommer ended in eighth, just two-tenths of a second behind. Both emerged from the melee with second-team All-American honors, the first such award for St. Scholastica’s young program.

“Even though we felt [Thursday’s] classic race was a bit of a missed opportunity because of some waxing decisions, Paul told me he felt as good physically as he has all year, so we were confident going into today,” St. Scholastica head coach Chad Salmela said. “Mentally, Paul’s one of the strongest athletes I’ve ever worked with, so it’s really awesome to see him get to be an All-American. We’re really excited.”

Northern Michigan’s Kyle Bratrud turned in a solid race as well, finishing well within the top half of the competitive field with his 14th place finish. Likewise, Alaska’s Michael Fehrenbach and Logan Hanneman ended their days in the top 30 as well, at 23rd and 26th place, respectively.

Frankowski, meanwhile, ended her collegiate career in style as well. Described by her head coach, Sten Fjeldheim, as one of the fittest skiers he’s ever seen, Frankowski used that engine to her advantage, taking charge and setting a blistering pace early in the final lap to tire out the rest of the lead pack. Though New Mexico’s Eva Severrus would keep pace and eventually take the win, Frankowski finished comfortably in second place – an impressive final performance for the one-time walk-on.

“At one point in her freshman season, Rosie came in, looked me in the eye and told me I would be making a mistake if I didn’t keep her on the team – turns out she was right,” Fjeldheim laughed. “She skied a really smart race today and put the hammer down when she needed to. It was incredible to watch.”

After an impressive 15th place finish in the classic race earlier this week, St. Olaf skier Paige Schember did even better in the skate event, finishing her 15K in 41:23.1 to grab seventh place and second-team All-American status. So too did Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders – one of the region’s best freestyle skiers, Flanders’ time of 41:40.2 earned her 10th place overall and the final All-American position on the women’s side.

Alaska’s Nichole Bathe, who earned first-team All-American accolades with her fourth-place finish on Thursday, was next across the line for the CCSA, taking 13th to wrap up a fantastic first season for the freshman. Northern Michigan’s Hannah Boyer and Mary Kate Cirelli turned in solid performances for the Wildcats as well, taking 16th and 22nd place, respectively.

Saturday’s outstanding results close the book on a satisfying 2014 season for the CCSA, and leaves the coaches proud of the region’s showing at this year’s national championships.

“I think we sent a message to the other regions with our performances this week,” Salmela said. “I think we’re showing everyone that our programs are getting good development out of our skiers. We are going to get more NCAA spots back now for our region, and we deserve it.”

“It was absolutely essential that we did well this week,” Jerome said. “We absolutely had to have a good NCAAs, and I’m really pleased and proud of this group.”

For full results, please visit http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results14/ncaa14.htm.

The CCSA skiers opened up the NCAA Championships in style, as the region’s athletes earned five All-American finishes in the interval start classic races at Soldier Hollow Resort in Midway, Utah. Alaska’s Nichole Bathe turned in a region-best fourth-place finish to collect first-team All-American honors, while Northern Michigan skiers landed a pair of second-team All-American spots in both the men’s 10K (Kyle Bratrud and Fredrik Schwencke) and the women’s 5K (Rosie Frankowski and Mary Kate Cirelli) events.

All told, CCSA skiers accounted for eight top-15 finishes and 10 top-20 spots in the two events — an important performance as the region looks to reclaim additional qualifying spots for its student-athletes in the future.

“It was a really good boost of confidence for everyone to have a day like today,” Northern Michigan head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “Everyone in our region really communicates well and worked together. It’s a really unique situation – I didn’t see anyone else from the West or East regions doing that – and it paid off for us today.”

A combination of the high altitude of Soldier Hollow and warm temperatures approaching 50 degrees created a unusual scenario for coaches and athletes alike – the “complete opposite of anything we skied in this year,” as Fjeldheim put it.

None of it, however, appeared to faze Bathe. The freshman blistered through the course in 14:07.7 to capture fourth place despite drawing the No. 1 bib, meaning she wouldn’t having previous competitor’s times for motivation.

“I don’t think having splits would have mattered for her today,” Alaska head coach Scott Jerome said. “I think she was going to go out there and race the way she did no matter what. The conditions were really firm, but she has a good double pole, so that worked to her advantage.”

Northern Michigan’s Frankowski just missed out on a top-five place of her own, taking sixth in 14:23.5, while teammate Cirelli claimed her first All-American honor with a 10th-place finish, improving on her 15th-place performance in the same event a year ago.

St. Olaf’s Paige Schember turned in a solid performance in her first NCAAs as well, finishing in 15th with her time of 14:43.2. Northern Michigan’s Hannah Boyer placed 20th with her 14:48.7, while Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders took 31st in 15:12.9.

On the men’s side, NMU’s Kyle Bratrud led the region with his sixth-place finish, collecting his second career All-American honor with his time of 25:24.4. Fellow Wildcat Fredrik Schwencke also earned second-team All-American status; the freshman taking 10th in 25:47.2.

“Kyle just skied an awesome race,” Fjeldheim said. “I think we really showed the depth of our team today – everyone was really rooting for one another, and to get four All-Americans is pretty incredible.”

Alaska’s Logan Hanneman turned in the CCSA’s fourth-best time on the men’s side – the Fairbanks native nearly cracking the top 10 himself after finishing less than three seconds behind Schwencke to place 11th. Northern Michigan’s Adam Martin took 13th overall in 25:52.3, while the Nanooks’ Michael Fehrenbach overcame a recurring illness to place 16th.

Likewise, an early fall and resulting busted knees didn’t stop Alaska’s Max Olex; the senior pressing on to take 21st in what Jerome labelled “the race of the day for our men’s team.” St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer turned in a solid performance for the Saints as well, taking 25th overall in his return to nationals after competing in the 2012 NCAAs.

The CCSA skiers return to the Soldier Hollow course Saturday, for a men’s 20K mass start freestyle race at 10 a.m. Mountain time, followed by a women’s 15K at noon.

For complete results, please see http://www.barttiming.com/eisa/Results14/ncaa14.htm.

It was a green and gold final day of the CCSA season, as Northern Michigan not only saw two of their skiers — George Cartwright and Rosie Frankowski — top the podium in both the men’s 15K and women’s 10K mass start freestyle events, but the Wildcats also swept the men’s, women’s and overall team titles at the NCAA Central Region Championships in Houghton, Mich.

“It was a great team effort,” Northern Michigan head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “We’ve got everyone healthy, had good skis, so everything worked out. I think it says a lot about our team depth on both sides: everyone really pushes one another to get better.”

There was plenty of pressure in the build-up to Sunday’s start, since the races represented the final chance for CCSA skiers to improve their standing in the regional points list and stake their claim for a coveted spot at the NCAA Championships next month.

Cartwright, however, refused to be rattled and skied an intelligent, composed race, sticking within the lead pack for the first couple laps before teaming with the redshirting Erik Soderman to pull away in the final 5K. Cartwright would finish as the top collegiate skier with his time of 40:57.9 to successfully defend his NCAA Central Region skate title from last year.

“It takes a lot to rattle George’s cage,” Fjeldheim said. “He’s at his best when he can sit with the pack and then take off at the end. He’s always been a good skate skier and a good sprinter, so he’s tough to beat when he does that. It was really fun, as a coach, to watch a fifth-year senior go out and win regionals today.”

Fellow Wildcat Kyle Bratrud was next across the line, the in-form skier earning his second podium spot of the weekend with a second-place finish in 41:19.7. St. Scholastica junior Paul Schommer collected the bronze podium spot, finishing third in 41:21.0. A pair of Alaska skiers, Michael Fehrenbach and Logan Hanneman, were next across the line; Fehrenbach taking fourth in 41:22.5, while Hanneman just edged the Wildcats’ Fredrik Schwencke across the line by seven-tenths of a second.

Schwencke, Northern Michigan’s third scoring skier, took sixth in 41:24.3, followed closely by teammate Adam Martin in seventh. St. Olaf’s Jake Brown produced a solid performance to take eighth and boost his chances of NCAA qualification with his time of 41:28.8, while Michigan Tech’s Matt Dugan and Kyle Hanson rounded out the top ten.

On the women’s side, the rest of the CCSA field had no answer for Frankowski. The senior from Minneapolis, Minn. set the pace early, then pulled away on the second lap before eventually cruising to a 38-second victory. Frankowski has now won back-to-back mass start skate events since returning from the U23 World Championships last month.

“Having Rosie back has just given our whole team a boost of confidence — I think she decided to see just how fast she could ski in that second lap today,” Fjeldheim laughed.

St. Scholastica’s Sharmila Ahmed turned in one of her best performances of the season on Sunday, earning a regional silver medal with her time of 33:00.9 — good enough for second place. Northern Michigan’s Hannah Boyer wrapped up a solid weekend for herself as well, landing her second third place finish and second podium spot in as many days by taking third in 33:07.4.

St. Olaf’s Paige Schember strengthened her case for an NCAA berth with her fourth-place finish on Sunday, followed closely by Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders, another skier who will be eyeing the points lists earnestly when the final standings are announced later this month. Northern Michigan’s Mary Kate Cirelli took sixth to wrap up the scoring for the Wildcats, and St. Scholastica’s Sarah Allen wrapped up a solid season for herself with a seventh-place finish. Alaska’s Nichole Bathe, Northern Michigan’s Kristen Bourne and Alaska’s Aly McPhetres complete the women’s top ten.

Sunday’s results mean that Northern Michigan successfully overturned the three-point deficit they faced on the men’s side after yesterday’s classic event. The Wildcats leapfrogged Alaska to claim the men’s team title by seven points, 129 to 122. St. Scholastica took third with 93 points.

It was a similar story on the women’s side, with the Wildcats’ women taking the crown with 128 total points for the weekend, topping second place St. Scholastica (109 points) and third-place Alaska (99 points) by a comfortable margin.

With the CCSA season now behind them, the region’s student-athletes now can do nothing but wait for the final points to be tallied and the official selections for next month’s NCAA Championships to be announced. The Central Region will send seven men and six women to this year’s national championships, to be held at Soldier Hollow Resort in Midway, Utah on March 6 and 8.

For complete results from today’s events, including team scores, please visit www.superiortiming.com.