Teams safely traveled to Ishpeming, Michigan this past weekend for the 2021 NMU Invitational as the CCSA NCAA qualifying races continue. As we now enter February, there is less than a month left of regional racing, with three more races for athletes to prove their fitness and strength.

Without a doubt, the grueling courses of Al Quaal tested those abilities this past weekend; being known as one of the most grueling courses in the Midwest, athletes competed in 2 individual start distance races. One thing that turned heads this weekend was the return of Zak Ketterson, who has been at the top of the CCSA since his freshman year at NMU. Having red-shirted last year, Ketterson returns for his last season in the CCSA, ready to make an impact.

On Saturday, the women led the day with a 5k Classic Individual Start. Malin Börjesjö (NMU) continued her strong season with a win of 11 seconds. “I was unusually nervous coming into this weekend, probably since it was a home meet” said Börjesjö, “This weekend I tried to split the course into 6 different sections and I knew I could be fast if I skied my sections as I planned. I think that was a good tactic on this course because you need to be active all the time, especially in the transitions”. Anabel Needham led the MTU women’s team against the fierce battle against the NMU women’s team. The two teams took the top 13 places, with NMU squeaking out the day’s win by just 1 point. Samantha Benzing led the CSS team in 13th, and Maria Schoening led the UWGB team in 21st.

On the men’s side, NMU proved it was a force to be recokened with in the 10k Classic Individual Start, as they almost had a perfect score, just barely being thwarted by CSS’s John Schwinghamer in 5th. Kjetil Bånerud led the NMU charge in 1st, being supported by a standout performance by sophomore Matthew Bourne (who finished 29th in the CCSA Men’s End of Season Rankings last year) in 2nd, Zak Ketterson in 3rd, and Maurus Grond in 4th. Aleksi Leino led a deep MTU men’s team in 7th and Sam Myers led the Green Bay Team in 19th.

The men started first on Sunday, with a 20k Skate Individual start. Zak Ketterson showed up ready to roar, with a dominating performance over the field, winning by 49 seconds. Teammate Tobias Moosman took 2nd; 18 second’s ahead of MTU’s top man, Reid Goble. ” Saturday was a tougher race for me, coming off of the uncertainty of what are race season would be this year, I am just starting to get back into what it means to be racing and I think a lot of people feel that way, ” said Goble, “Sunday I tried to turn my results around and ended up having a good result and just focused on pacing the 20k well.” Shad Kraftson led a strong UWGB men’s team in 17th, showing that the team is rebounding well from a coaching change this season. “I was excited coming into the weekend. You never know what you’re going to get in Ishpeming. I hadn’t done a 20k skate since freshman year, and I knew that it could be a good race for me” said Kraftson, “Training this fall required some adjustments due to Covid and our new coach. However, I think we built a substantial training base. From here the plan is just to dial in skiing fast and taper a little before Conference and Regionals. Staying healthy is going to be super important. The little things”.

In the women’s 15k Skate Individual Start, Börjesjö took another win, 44 seconds in front of teammate Hilde Eide. Needham had another strong day, positioning herself in the storm of the NMU women’s team who took 5 of the top 6 spots. Maj-Lis Helmer of CSS took 15th, and Maria Schoening raced to 21 for UWGB.

Green Bay looks to host next weekend in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Competition continues to stay strong, and the teams are ready to throw down the last couple Regional competitions of this year.

This past weekend the CCSA made their way to Cable, Wisconsin to race at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead in the Gitchi Gami Games. The weekend comprised two individual start races, a classic race on Saturday, and skate on Sunday. Icy conditions led to a technically challenging race on Saturday, with a 10k race for the women and a 15k for the men. Malin Börjesjö blew the field away with a 36 second win, continuously proving that she is the one to beat this season. MTU athlete nabbed 3rd besting region besting Midwest legend Caitlin Gregg. Anabel Needham topped the CCSA podium, pulling a strong MTU women’s team to the team win. Lead Saint Scholastica athlete Rana Krafton had a stellar day in 18th place. “I was super excited coming into the weekend,” said Kraftson, “[The CSS team] hadn’t seen each other for two months until we showed up to the venue on Saturday and everyone came together and gave it everything they had on and off the course and I’m very proud of the way my teammates show up for each other. There is definitely a lot to work on. Getting into 5k race mode felt especially tough on Sunday, both mentally and physically, but I know everyone is in the same boat and it’s going to take a few races to feel like we’re flying out there”. Erica Meyers led the St Olaf women and Maria Schoening led the Green Bay women.

Kjetil Bånerud (NMU) absolutely dominated the CCSA with almost a full minute and a half lead over teammate Tobi Moosmann. “I felt good coming into the weekend after some solid training since last race weekend in Houghton. I felt recovered and ready to race fast, ” said Bånerud, “This fall was different with the fact of COVID, but I think we did a very good job as a team when it comes to staying positive and pushing each other every day. I am very impressed with my teammates on how they tackled the challenges and helped me stay motivated for a season that we did not know would happen or not.” MTU’s Aleksi Leino snagged 3rd place, just barely finishing in front of Matt Bourne (NMU), “I was trustful coming into this weekend since I feel that I had strong fall behind. Saturday classic race was very good for me and I was able to keep myself on the limit from the beginning to end.” said Leino. “Overall good start for the season”. John Schwinghamer was the top Saint Scholastic man in 8th place and Sam Myers was the top Green Bay athlete in 20th place.

Henriette Semb (MTU) had a nice upset Sunday, beating Malin Börjesjö by 5 seconds. Olivia Lavén (MTU) had her first CCSA podium once again leading a very strong MTU women’s team. “The training in the US and MTU has been great,” wrote Lavén “For the past couple of years, I have trained alone most of the time, so I feel like it has been beneficial for me to come here and have strong teammates. This weekend, I had a tough classic race, mainly because herringboning is not something I’m good at, [but] but the skate race went a lot better. Even if I was lacking a bit of confidence from the day before, I feel like I was able to perform well”.Maria Schoening led the Green Bay team in 21st, Samantha Benzing led Saint Scholastic, and once again, Erica Meyers led St Olaf.

Kjetil Bånerud and Tobi Moosmann once again led the men’s field on Sunday, with Bånerud taking the win by 21 seconds and Moosman finishing 9 seconds in front of former Olympian Brian Gregg. “Looking ahead towards our next races I want to continue with the good training we have been able to do, and work on details to race even faster next race.” commented Bånerud. Reid Goble took 3rd. John Schwinghamer led the Saint Scholastica team in 12th, Shad Kraftson led Green Bay in 18th,

The Gitchi Gami Games proved that team competition will be fiercely competitive this year, especially once teams can complete their full roster (in particular, NMU’s women’s team was missing quite a few athletes as they were quarantining after traveling from Europe). The next race weekend will take place at Al Quaal, in Ishpeming, MI in 2 weekends.

While the kickoff to the season was delayed, it finally started in Houghton this past weekend with the MTU CXC Cup Holiday Championships. There was a more unique format than most weekends, with 2 individual start sprints on Saturday, and an individual start distance race on Sunday. With many Eastern colleges being online this year, Midwest racing is very competitive this year, with extra competitive athletes in the field. Many schools are also currently missing top athletes, being home for the holiday break.

First up on Saturday were the Women’s Classic Sprints, with Northern Michigan University’s Malin Börjesjö, taking an upset win over region legend professional skier, Caitlin Gregg. Michigan Tech’s Anabel Needham was the 2nd CCSA skier, with NMU’s freshman Gretchen Haggenmiller right behind her. “Coming into the weekend I was nervous, but also very excited,” wrote sophomore Needham. “First races of the season are always scary because it’s the first mark of how training has paid off from the previous months”. On the men’s side, NMU’s Tobi Moosman started the morning off strong, taking the lead over teammate Kjetil Bånerud. Ryan Steger of the College of Saint Scholastica claimed his first CCSA podium of his career.

Later in the afternoon, Malin Börjesjö once again led the CCSA women in the skate sprint, placing 2nd in the Senior women’s field to Caitlin Gregg by less than a 2nd. Anabel Needham once again took 2nd, this time taking a sweep of the U20 podium with her MTU freshmen teammates Olivia Laven and Johanna Craig. On the men’s side, NMU took the sweep in the afternoon, with Tobi Moosman, Kjetil Bånerud, and freshman Kristoffer Karsrud besting a strong men’s field. “I was super excited to do my first race for NMU,” said Karsrud, “College skiing is new to me and it was a great experience”.

On Sunday, the women raced an individual start 10k, and Malin Börjesjö, once again dominated the field, showing she’s the one to beat this season. MTU’s Olivia Laven continued her strong debut with 2nd, followed by teammate Anabel Needham. “It was awesome to have so many people helping with this event and coming out [this] weekend,” says Needham, “Each race this year will be a gift, and we are so lucky to participate. I’m looking forward to racing again, and giving it my best effort!” Kjetil Bånerud took his first CCSA win of the season in the men’s 15k skate. Teammates Patrick Acton and Mark Ousdigian topped off MTU’s strong weekend with 2nd and 3rd.

The next races are January 16th and 17th in Cable, Wisconsin at the Birkie Trail Head.

Teams brought warm weather into Ishpeming, Michigan this past weekend for the final weekend of CSSA racing in the Midwest. Competing for the final positions for NCAAs, teams fought hard in the final weekend. In the women’s 5k skate on Saturday, it was a close battle up until the line, with Malin Börjesjö (NMU) nabbing the win over teammate Molly Miller (NMU) by just 3 seconds. Sarah Goble (MTU) was just .3 seconds behind Miller to take 3^rd. In the men’s 10k, Mathias Rolid (NMU), and Kjetil Bånerud(NMU) were just .1 of a second apart after the first 5k, but in the second half of the race, Rolid finished up his strong CCSA season by putting 8 seconds on Bånerud. Reid Goble (MTU), who was 7^th after the first lap, had a similar race strategy to Rolid. “On Saturday’s skate race, I started off at a comfortable pace and felt strong going into the second lap so I really focused on making up time and ended up in third place”.

 

The men had the cooler temperatures on Sunday, benefiting them in the form of faster tracks and easier kick waxing. A fairly big pack stayed together for the first half of the race before the leaders began to spread out. “On Sunday’s classic race the pace for the first half was relaxed and going into the third lap I decided to push it and broke away along with three others,” Goble said. On the last lap, Emil Book Bratbak (CSS) and Kjetil Bånerud broke away from the rest of the field, and had a battle to the finish, with Bratbak taking the win in the finishing stretch- CSS’s first-ever Regional Championship win.

 

The women struggled with quickly rising temperatures, and with half of the racing course being in the woods and half being in a field, it was inconsistent waxing conditions. Similar to the men, the women had a strict pack for the first 10k until Hilde Eide (NMU) and Malin Börjesjö made a break for the win right after the pack went through the stadium. Börjesjö took a fall on one of the downhills of the course on the last lap, leaving Eide to take her 2^nd CCSA win. Nadine Matter (NMU) finished 2^nd, Sarah Goble was 3^rd, and Bojesjo took 4^th. “I think this course is one of the hardest courses I have ever skied, but I enjoyed it. The classic was different from [previous] races because it was a klister race and I think everyone had problems with icing skis. I personally had to stop a few times to remove the snow on my skis because I couldn’t move”. Green Bay’s Lara Ketterer said.

While the CCSA racing season is over, CCSA athletes still have plenty of racing to do! Amanda Kautzer (MTU), Sarah Goble (MTU), Molly Miller (NMU), and redshirt skier Zak Ketterson (NMU) are all competing at the Junior World Championships/ U23 World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, starting February 29^th. 8 men and 7 women have qualified from the NCAA Central Region for the NCAA National Championships in Bozeman, Montana, March 12^th and 14^th and several CCSA athletes will also compete at Jr Nationals in Northern California in early March!

Championship Season has begun, and it started off with a bang in Houghton, Michigan with the CCSA Conference Championships! Throughout the season, individuals and teams are competing for NCAA Qualifying Points, to gain a spot at Nationals in Bozeman, Montana this upcoming March. Based on the previous year’s CCSA performances at NCAAs, the men have 8 qualifying spots, and the women own 7 (each team is limited to only 3 athletes at NCAAs). As the season goes on, the points from each race are more heavily weighted, putting more pressure on these Championships races- this past weekend at Conference Championships, and next weekend at Regionals.

This weekend in Houghton saw the same format from all season (and the same we’ll see at NCAAs), with a 5k/10k skate race Saturday, and a 15k/20k classic race Sunday. On Saturday, Mathias Rolid (NMU) took his fourth CCSA win of the season in the men’s 10k, besting teammate Kjetil Bånerud by 13 seconds. “I got in a very solid training block after the races in Rhinelander so I was excited to see how my body felt after all of that volume” Rolid commented after the weekend, “The skate race was pretty hard. I started early in the A seed group and decided to go out fast, down and up the hairpin climb. I got some back splits that said it was a close race between Kjetil and me, so I had to push hard all the way in. I feel like I paced it well and overall it was a very good race”. Reid Goble (MTU) added onto his already strong season with another podium finish, finishing just a second in front of Xavier Mansfield (NMU).

In the women’s 5k, Nadine Matter (NMU) took her first-ever CCSA win and leading an NMU sweep on the podium, as Malin Börjesjö and Molly Molly finished within the same second. Amanda Kautzer (MTU) has been one of the most consistent forces out on the course this winter, finishing in 4^th, “On Saturday, I wasn’t feeling very good before the races, but when I started and realized how fast my skis were, I knew it was going to be a good day. I was hoping to be on the podium, it didn’t quite have the gas on the last climb to quite get there”.

In Sunday’s 20k Classic Mass Start, Mathias Rolid (NMU) continued his reign with a dominating win. “The 20km mass start race was an interesting one. A cold day with some light snow coming down before the start. It stopped snowing right before the start, but the tracks were not skied in. Therefore, the first lap was very tactical, because no one wanted to take the lead. It was very difficult to ski away at that point. However, after we had raced one lap around the course the tracks became a lot faster.” Right before the last lap, Rolid took control and broke away, and ended up finishing a whopping minute and 11 seconds ahead of the field. Aleksi Leino (MTU) took 2^nd, claiming his first CCSA podium after struggling with some injuries earlier in the year. “My strategy was just to keep myself in top positions, but not to lead because it was so much easier behind someone. I was feeling good from the beginning and first two laps, we were skiing pretty slowly. I lost my pole tip at 4k but thanks for Adam Witowski, I got a new one pretty soon. Then I was just hanging with the group until 2k before the finish, I put it all in and that was enough for second position”. Nick Matelich (CSS) scrambled for 3^rd, also claiming his first CCSA podium, claiming credit to fast skis and having fun.

In the women’s 15k mass start race, the ladies had a competitive race, with the top 8 ladies striking out a competitive battle. “I felt very confident racing on our home course”, runner-up Kautzer said, “The race did not split up as much as I anticipated, but there was no one else really pushing the pace out front, so I ended up leading more in the race than I have in any other mass start. I felt really good going into the last lap, and even into the last hill but unfortunately got tangled with Malin [Börjesjö] and broke a binding, which is what cost me the win today”. “I felt good this entire weekend” commented Börjesjö, “But it was not a fair fight for the finish today, and I hope for a new fair fight with Amanda next weekend”. Molly Miller grabbed another 3^rd place finish, wrapping up a very successful weekend after she returned from the Canadian World Junior Trials (where she qualified for World Juniors).

Next weekend is the final CCSA race in Ishpeming, Michigan. It looks to be a very warm weekend with highs of 38 degrees F both Saturday and Sunday.

A warm weekend in Rhinelander, Wisconsin wrapped up the last racing block for the CCSA before the Championship races. Races got switched to the Classic Mass Start on Saturday and Skate Individual Start on Sunday to make classic waxing easier, as Sunday had incredibly warm temperatures. This weekend, was a standardized glide wax weekend for the CCSA, so on Sunday, teams only had to worry about kick wax in the unpredictable temperatures.

The women thinned out right away in their 15k race, with four women, Hilde Eide and Malin Borjesjo of NMU and Sarah Goble and Amanda Kautzer of Tech in a lead pack at the end of the first lap. Eide dropped off of the lead pack just after 10k, and Borjesjo took the lead in the last 2k to grab her 2^nd college win of the season. “this weekend was a little bit of revenge for me” Bojesjo commented, “I have felt good on race weekends before, but everything has not worked at the same time. This weekend, it did”.

The temperatures were expected to warm up for the men’s race, but temperatures rose a little more than expected when the sun made an appearance about 20 minutes before the men’s start. Some teams made a quick change of kick wax before the races, opting for zero skis- which seemed to be the best case in the rapidly warming afternoon, as the top three men were on zeros. Zak Ketterson, Kjetil Baanerud, Mathias Rolid (NMU) and Emil Book Bratbak broke away on the first lap, with Reid Goble and Patrick Acton chasing them down. “The classic race went out at a good pace but I unfortunately lost contact with the lead on the A climb and then fought the rest of the first lap to get on the back of Reid,” Acton said, “We skied laps 2 and 3 together, switching off leading on the terrain we were respectively stronger on. Going into the last lap, I felt good and knew that [Daniel] Streinz [NMU} was within striking distance of us so I focused on pushing through the early parts of that lap and then carried it through the A climb and the final kick to the finish”. Ketterson broke away from Baanerud and Rolid on the final A climb, and Rolid just out sprint Baanerud on the final climb of the race, nabbing the college win. “I came into this weekend in Rhinelander feeling pretty good,” Rolid wrote after the races, “It was nice to have my roommate Zak on the start line for the classic race, and together with Kjetil we decided to make this 20k as hard as possible to prepare for NCAAs. It was brutal but it ended up being a good race for me”. Emil Book Bratbak had another strong performance to finish 3^rd for the CCSA, Patrick Acton was 4^th, Daniel Streinz had one of his strongest races of the season to finish 5^th, and Reid Goble was 6^th.

Although it was warmer temperatures on Sunday, the course firmed up enough during the night, for the skate races to be fast. Once again, the CCSA had standardized glide wax, but many athletes were feeling Saturday’s battle. The women’s race again was first and was very close all throughout the 2 laps. Malin Borjesjo skied away from the field, finishing over 20 seconds in front of Henriette Semb (MTU), and Hilde Eide took 3^rd. “I enjoyed the courses in Rhinelander” Bojesjo expressed, “They were tough but it allowed you to ski big and relax, which fits me. I changed my past week of training, to trade a speed session for my normal mid-week intervals so I could work on my weaknesses, and it helped me give me energy”. Semb, who is ranked 4^th in the CCSA points list after this weekend, was pleased with her weekend. “It was a fun and technical course with a lot of transitions so I tried and work well over the tops of the hills. I also paced the race well and pushed it all to the finish line.”

The course did not change much for the men’s race, and Mathias Rolid took the charge. I could really feel the classic race from the day before when I was warming up. I felt really flat, so I knew it was all about finding that pace I could hold for 10k. It was a challenging course with no rest, so my focus was on a steady pace off the line, for even splits on all four laps. I was always riding the edge of how much lactic acid I could handle, and my coaches didn’t really tell me how I was doing so I was fighting for every second!” Emil Book Bratbak grabbed his second podium of the season after being caught by Rolid and drafting off of him for the majority of the race, and Kjetil Baanerud took third. Patrick Acton nabbed his second 4^th place finish of the weekend, putting him in 4^th in the overall CCSA Point rankings. “Quite pleased with 2 fourth-place finishes on a weekend, especially when 1-3 were Norwegian men who were really strong at this point in the season. Looking forward to being back in Houghton in a couple of weeks!”

Team results are still close, as the Michigan Tech women have gone back and forth in team points with Northern Michigan the last couple of weekends, and the Michigan Tech men and Saint Scholastica men have been back and forth. Teams get a week break before the Conference Championship, back in Houghton, Michigan.

CCSA teams met in Cable, Wisconsin this weekend for the Gitchi Gami Games at the famous American Birkebiner start line. While typically the college teams will compete in two races in a weekend- this weekend, many of the college teams chose to forgo Saturday’s Skate Sprints because they did not count for NCAA Qualifying. 

Regardless, Saturday’s skate sprints allowed for some standout performances from CSS and GB athletes. In the Men’s final, Green Bay athletes finished 1, 2, 4, and 5 with redshirting freshman Jackson Adler edging out Sam Myers for the win. CSS skiers Jack Christianson and Cody Schneider were in the mix finishing 3rd and 6th. On the women’s side, Maria Schoening of Green Bay had a dominant day, winning every single heat she was in. “I definitely surprised myself in the heats. I just focused on pushing myself up and over the top of that gnarly hill and into the finish!” Schoening ended up dominating the final, winning by four seconds. CSS women Mae Barnes and Annika Viren capped off their strong days with 2nd and 3rd.

On Sunday, the force of all whole CCSA came out again, with every team showing up to battle it out. On the men’s side, there was no surprise that Kjetil Bånerud (NMU) won the individual start by 17 seconds. Coming off of strong performances from last weekend, Mathias Rolid (NMU) and Emil Book Bratbak (NMU) finished within the same second to place 2nd and 3rd. Patrick Acton (MTU) finished 4th, and Daniel Streinz, finished 5th, pushing NMU to the win. “I started this fall out lacking fitness due to being sick for 2 months in late summer,” Streinz wrote, “But it seems I’ve gotten into good enough shape for racing and I’ve been exceeding my expectations.” Nick Matelich had a standout day finishing in 7th, leading the CSS Men’s team to possibly the biggest upset so far this season, over MTU, finishing 2nd.  Joshua Albrecht of MTU had his best race this season, finishing in the top 10. “During the race, I made a stronger effort to start fast and not lose sight of the two people in front of me, since starting 3rd meant I didn’t have many good drafting opportunities on the first lap. I also focused on having a strong last lap, as I knew the last kilometer was a rest into the stadium. My new season goals will be to finish top 10 in each race to have the opportunity to be a scoring member of the team.” Shad Kraftson led the way for Green Bay, finishing in 16th, and Kieran Mullen led St Olaf in 26th.

The women’s race was just as competitive, with only 10 points between Michigan Tech and NMU for the team win. Sarah Goble has been a strong contender this season, and she added another win to her belt today, as she led MTU to a team victory. One of the strongest performances of the day went to Oda Hovland (MTU) who finished in 2nd. “I started hard and got good splits for all of my laps which of course helps a lot, and I got podium splits from the beginning so that was cool!” NMU’s three team scorers, Malin Boerjesjo, Molly Miller, and Nadine Matter took the next three positions to push NMU to 2nd as a team, but the Wildcats showed their depth as each one of their women made it into the top 10. “Today it felt like I had a really good average pace, “ Boerjesjo said, after coming in 4th, “but I still feel that the top speed is not really there yet, so that will be my focus in training, forward”. Lara Ketterer (GB) is fighting for an NCAA spot, finishing the day in 13th and Samantha Benzing (CSS) is right on her tail, in 16th. Erica Meyers was the top finisher for St Olaf, and freshman Cheresa Bouley was the top Saint Cloud State skier. 

Next weekend is in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, hosted by Green Bay’s Nordic team. Rhinelander will be the last races before a week break, and then the Conference Championship in Houghton, MI.

The CCSA traveled to Northern Minnesota this past weekend to race at Mt. Itasca in Coleraine- typically known for its cold weather and biathlon center. The weather did not disappoint, with cold temperatures threatening the possibility of racing the mass starts on Sunday, but in the end, it was just warm enough (above -4*F).

On Saturday, CCSA athletes took around the course in the skate individual start. With a bunch of fresh snow from the night before, the course was a bit soft, but it did not stop the skiers from racing fast. “The skate race went surprisingly well,” NMU’s Mathias Rolid said after placing 2^nd behind teammate Kjetil Baanrud. “I’ve never been really good in soft conditions before, so that race was a pleasant surprise. I never felt that I was skiing particularly fast, but I guess that’s how it goes in conditions like that”. Reid Goble of MTU placed third, finishing the men’s podium. Emil Book Bratbak was the top athlete for the College of St Scholastica in 5^th, followed closely by his teammate Tamer Mische-Richer in 8^th. Sam Meyers was the top Green Bay Men’s team skier in 17^th place, and Peter Carlen led the St Olaf team.

On the women’s side, MTU’s Sarah Goble topped the field. “I was pretty tired coming off of US Nationals so I made sure to do what my body needed to do to recover”. Goble said after taking the win 5k win, “My skate race felt really good, I skied the course smart and to my strengths”. NMU took the rest of the podium with Katerina Hyconovia in 2^nd, and Nadine Matter grabbing her first podium of the season in 3^rd. Samantha Benzing was the top CSS woman of the day in 14^th, Lara Ketterer was the top Green Bay woman of the day in 19^th, Stephanie Balas led the St. Olaf women in 21^st, and Cheresa Bouley was the top finisher from St Cloud State.

Sunday, racers lined up with breathing masks and face tape to avoid frostbite for the mass start distance races. Both the men’s and the women’s races came down to dramatic finishes. In the men’s race, Mathias Rolid and Emil Book Bratbak pulled away from the field around the second lap, pushing each other for the last 10k. “It was a lot of fun to work with Mathias, although he had a faster gear in the end” Bratbak said. Rolid’s race was all about skiing relax and conserving energy, “I was confident that I would beat Bratbak in a sprint finish, so he did most of the pacing (I’m sorry Emil). Fun day!” wrote Mathias. He ended up edging Bratbak out by less than 3 seconds at the end. Sam Meyers once again led Green Bay with his top 20 finish, and Peter Carlen was the first across the line for St. Olaf in 21^st.

In the women’s race, a larger pack of athletes pushed each other through the whole race. “It was really a tactical mass start, a lot of different women took the lead throughout the race, and it seemed like a lot of us were trying to race smart.” NMU’s Hilde Eide commented. On the last downhill, Eide was in a pack with teammates Molly Miller and Malin Bojesjoe, along with MTU skiers Sarah Goble and Henriette Semb. On the last uphill, Eide finally broke away, bringing Miller and Bojeseoe with her for an NMU podium sweep. “The Itasca races were tough! It was very cold weather and steep hills, but fun races all of the same. My favorite part of the weekend was sharing the classic podium with my two teammates” NMU freshman Miller wrote. Henriette Semb, Sarah Goble, and Oda Hovland took places 4, 5, and 6 for Michigan Tech, Lara Ketterer was the top woman for Green Bay in 10^th, Samantha Benzing and Rana Kraftson led CSS in 13^th and 15^th places, Stephanie Balas finished in 17^th, pulling the St Olaf women to a 4^th place finish for the team. Cheresa Bouley finished her first 15k race in 23^rd, first for the St Cloud team.

CCSA athletes get a week before racing in Cable, Wisconsin next weekend. Because the sprint races on Saturday do not count for NCAA qualifying, some teams are forgoing the race, and planning to only race on Sunday.

The last two days of Nationals consisted of snowy classic days, with a classic distance mass start on Sunday and a classic sprint on Tuesday. Kjetil Bånerud (NMU) continued his strong week with 8th in the men’s 30k and Reid Goble (MTU) followed as the next CCSA skier in 17th. Henriette Semb (MTU) and Amanda Kautzer (MTU) led the women’s 20k in 18th and 19th, during the almost whiteout blizzard. In the boy’s 10k race, Gus Schatzlein (CSS) was the top CCSA guy of the day in 19th followed by NMU’s Matt Bourne in 26th. In the girl’s race, Savanna Fassio (NMU) held onto 13th, barely nicking Anabel Needham (MTU) for the top CCSA spot.

For St Olaf and Green Bay, Sunday was the last day of racing, wrapping up a week of lots of CCSA successes. Many teams, prepared for Nationals by resting up and decreasing the training load before the races. “We’ve been on snow since Thanksgiving in Green Bay”, Shad Kraftson wrote when explaining GB’s strong week, “We had an easy week of training prior to Nationals. We were able to be with our families and ski at home over Christmas. That is always fun and I felt rested going into Senior Nationals”. 

Tuesday’s sprint races showcased NMU, Tech and CSS, the three teams that stayed for the last day of racing. On the girl’s side, NMU’s Malin Boerjesjo and Molly Miller had strong performances in the semi-final finishing 8th and 11th respectively. Miller nabbed the top spot for juniors in the sprint race, her 2nd one of the Championship. Kautzer, who felt like she came into the races well prepared, finished her stellar week in 14th. “This year was a bit different coming into US Nationals on our home course. It was the first time in almost 8 years that I’ve been able to have a relaxing Christmas with my family rather than flying off to races somewhere. Mentally that break was huge for me coming into these races. On the men’s side, Kjetil Bånerud finished up his week in 16th, followed by Tobias Moosman and CSS’s Nick Matelich and Emil Book Bratbak.

Teams now get a small break after the busy week. The next races are in Northern Minnesota at Mt. Itasca hosted by CSS.

 

The CCSA has had a superb start to the new year at the U.S. National Championships in Houghton. Thursday was the skate sprints, and the CCSA put a mark on the field. In the men’s race, three skiers made the top 10- with Kjetil Baanerud (NMU) crushing the heats to get 4th in the final, and Tobi Moosman (NMU) and Mathias Rolid (NMU) placing 9th and 10th in the semi-finals. Seven CCSA women made the top 30 and skied in the senior heats. Amanda Kautzer (MTU) led the women in 7th, and freshman Molly Miller snuck into the top 10, as the first junior. Sarah Goble (MTU), Henriette Semb (MTU), and Katerina Hyncicova (NMU) finished in the top 20. In the junior heats, Adam Witowski navigated the heats to place 7th, Gus Schatzlein finished 9th, and Savanna Fassio finished 4th in the girl’s race. 

 

Friday brought on another day of strong results for the Central conference with the women starting the day in the 10k skate individual start. Leading the girls was Sarah Goble who had a monster day finishing in 18th. Right behind her was Henriette Semb and Hilde Eide (NMU) in 22 and 23, respectively. In the men’s 15k, Patrick Acton (MTU) led the charge with Kjetil Baanerud (NMU) close behind.

 

Tomorrow, teams get a break from the action, and racing starts back up again on Sunday with the classic mass starts.