The Seeley Hills SuperTour 2023 was a two-day event on January 14th and 15th, hosted at the Birkie Trails in Cable, WI. This race was a part of the US SuperTour combined and the CCSA college race, which attracted many top professional skiers alongside the CCSA teams.
Saturday:
Men’s: The overall winner of the SuperTour 32k classic on Saturday was Peter Wolter of Sun Valley SEF, who completed the race in 1 hour 25 minutes. The first college skier across the line was John Schwinghamer of CSS, with a time of 1 hour 28 minutes finishing 8th overall. He was followed by Luke Fricker of NMU, who finished 10th overall while 3rd place was secured by Skyler Patten of MTU. Additionally, top finishers from other teams include Noah Erickson of UW-Green Bay in 24th place and Tait Myers of St. Olaf in 46th place.
Men’s 32k Start
Women: The overall winner of the women’s 32k classic race on Saturday was Hannah Rudd of BSF Pro Team, who finished in 1 hour 40 minutes. The first college woman was Victoria Dybwad of CSS in 5th, with a time of 1 hour 44 minutes. Following Dybwads impressive 5th place, Katerina Hyncicova of NMU, finished 8th overall, and came in 2nd place in the CCSA, while Mia Case of CSS secured 3rd place. Additionally, top finishers from other teams include Olivia Laven of MTU in 12th place, Grete Engels of UW-Green Bay in 23rd place, and Lily Hubanks of St. Olaf in 19th place.
Women’s 32k Start
Sunday:
Men: The overall winner of the men’s race on Sunday was Michael Earnhart of APU Nordic Ski Center. The top college skier was Ivar Dragerengen of CSS followed by John Schwinghamer of CSS, who finished 11th overall, while Joe Lynch was the next college skier at 14th. Additionally, top finishers from other teams include Felix Cottet-Puinel of MTU in 15th, Ryan Thieme of UW-Green Bay in 20th, Cooper Lennox of NMU in 28th, and Tait Myers of St. Olaf in 49th.
Women: The overall winner of the women’s race on Sunday was Hannah Rudd, who repeated her win from the previous day. The college victory went to Katerina Hyncicova of NMU in 9th. Marie Wangen of MTU finished 10th overall, while Lily Brown of NMU finished next in 11th. Additionally, top finishers from other teams include Mia Case of CSS in 12th place, Grete Engels of UW-Green Bay in 23rd place, and Lily Hubanks of St. Olaf in 28th.
This SuperTour and CCSA weekend was a successful event and a great showcase of the talents and skills of the top skiers from around the country, particularly the CCSA college skiers who performed exceptionally well. Next up is the CCSA Invite in Duluth on Feb. 4th and 5th!
The CCSA had their last series of racing the Midwest in Duluth, MN, topping off an exciting season on both the team and individual side.
CCSA Banquet outside in Duluth
Saturday brought the Individual Classic Races, with the men completing a 10-kilometer race and the women, 5. Kjetil Banerud (NMU) once again proved why he is on top of the points list with once again, a dominant individual start win over teammate Xavier Mansfield, who has also been having a breakout season. Skylar Patten (MTU) took another podium, locking his spot for the NCAA Championships in Salt Lake City, UT. “My expectations for this weekend was to fight for the win both days” said Banerud. “I wanted to build upon the strong season I have had so far, as well as use these two last CCSA races in the preparation for NCAA.
Men’s Individual Start Podium
On the women’s side, Nea Katakala (MTU) took an equally dominating win, with Henriette Semb (MTU) unsurprising taking another podium position. Merle Richer (NMU) placed 3rd, just 5 seconds back from Semb. “My expectations for this weekend were more oriented to enjoy the last race weekend with the whole team” said Katerina Hyncicova who placed 6th. “Eight of us are seniors and everyone is leaving except me. I decided to stay one more year, I don’t want to say final ‘goodbye’ yet. So this weekend was quite emotional for most of us. in every individual start, I try to go hard from beginning. It is a short and fast race for me, so there is no time to wait for anything. I was positively surprised when I saw the results because I did not expect that at all.”
Women’s Individual Start Podium
Sunday’s mass starts brought some thrilling showdowns as athletes were fighting for NCAA positions and a chance to be a Central Regional Champion. Kjetil Banerud once again ended up with that honor, less than a second over Skylar Patten. “Sunday’s plan was to sit in the pack for the first half of the race and see what I had in the tank for the second part,” said Banerud. “I was trying to make somewhat of a move on the second to last lap, but it was challenging to break away. I know that I have a strong finish, so when Skylar went on the last lap I knew I had to stay right with him. Approaching the finish I took advantage of my sprinting capabilities to secure another win.” The chase pack’s race was just as exciting. Tobi Moosman finished in no-mans-land to take the podium, but places 4-9 finished within 10 seconds of each other for an exciting battle. ” On Sunday I wanted to stay closer to the front of the pack than last weekend so I could be in a better position is a move was made,” said MTU’s Henry Snider, “I executed my plan and even led one of the later laps but had a broken pole on the last lap and lost contact with the lead group.” Also skiing in the pack, Emil Book Bratbak, who was racing on his home course for his final time. “The pace wasn’t too hard and I could sit in the front of the group, which was really fun as the group was big for very long. It was special to finish off on our home course with our full team and I’ll miss everyone in the CCSA circuit.”
Men’s Teams Podium
In the women’s 15k, Henriette Semb took the win from Hilde Eide in a photo finish with both skiers finishing in 47:51:19. Nea Katajala took a close 3rd just 2 seconds back. “This Sunday I was looking for revenge for the mass start in Al Qual, and luckily for me Nea and Hilde dragged me through the race until the sprint finish,” said Semb. “It was a close finish and a tough and fun fight with Hilde. But the highlight was definitely our boys cheering us on up the hill. That spirit really exemplifies our team culture this season; happiness is fast!!” MTU teammate, Olivia Laven finished 4th. “I had a really tough day on Saturday where nothing really worked, so it was just one of those days where you just have move on right away and focus on what you can do to prepare for the next day” she said. “So coming into Sunday’s race, I was not sure how my body was going to respond, so my strategy was simply to stay in the pack and ski as efficiently as possible. Being that I’m not a sprinter, I knew I had to break away from the group I was skiing with well before the finish line, so when we came to the big hill on the last lap, I just decided to go as hard as I could and then keep on going hard all the way to the finish line without looking back, and it worked!”
Women’s Team Podium
While the CCSA is done, NCAA racing in the Midwest, there are athletes who are going to the NCAA National Championships in Soldier Hollow on March 10th and March 12th. Around the same time, some athletes will also be competing at US Junior Nationals in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Championship season started this past weekend in Ishpeming, Michigan with the CCSA Conference Championship.
The races started Saturday with the freestyle mass starts. The women began the day with a boom, as Merle Richter (NMU) took her first CCSA win in the 15k, a big upset over Anabel Needham (MTU-2nd) and Henriette Semb (MTU-4). Hilde Eide snagged the last spot on the podium in a sprint finish with Semb, completing one of her best races of the season so far. Cheresa Bouley (SCSU) had a memorable finish in 7th, and Victoria Dybwad (CSS) continued her strong season in 12th. “I was really excited for the mass start”, said CSS’s Emma Stertz. “Head-to-head racing can feel completely different than interval start so I was excited to get more experience. I felt like I skied the race smart and had a lot of fun! Saturday’s race was my last CCSA race for the season as I’m heading out to Soldier Hollow for Junior World’s for Biathlon. It feels like the season has gone by super fast and I wish I had more time to race with my CSS teammates, but I’m also looking forward to some high-level racing in Utah.”
The men’s 20k was a close one- start to finish, with Kjetil Banerud (NMU) narrowly taking the win over Skylar Patten (MTU)- one of Banerud closest victories yet. Colin Freed (MTU) took another CCSA podium in 3rd, just under 6 seconds from the win. “I came into this weekend hoping for a win in the skate race”, commented Patten, “Kjetil has been racing so strong in the individual start races that I thought I would maybe be able to get him in a mass start if I raced tactically enough. My strategy was to sit in until the second to last climb of the last lap then attack and push all the way to the finish. I did this but pushed a little too hard too soon and was not effective enough.” CJ Young (UWBG) had one of his best results of the season in 7th, and Gus Schatzlein led the CSS men in 8th.
On Sunday, the men started the day with an individual start 10k classic race. Kjetil Banerud (NMU) took his 2nd win of the Championship, this time with over a 30-second gap on runner-up Skylar Patten. “I came into Sunday with a ton of confidence from Saturday’s race and I wanted to try and finish faster than I have been in previous races,” said Patten. “So I conserved more on the first lap to hit the second lap fast and more importantly the last 2k that is flat and full of transitions. Next week I hope to equal or better my results in the Duluth races. Then it is into peaking for NCAAs”. Xavier Mansfield took the top position for the NMU men’s team in 4th, John Schwinghamer led the deep CSS team in 7th, and CJ Young (UWGB) finished in 15th.
The women’s 5k had another upset for the weekend, with Nea Katajala (MTU) getting into her rhythm and taking the win by over 10 seconds. Teammate Henriette Semb continued her consistent season with a 2nd place, and Merle Richter (NMU) showed she was a force to be reckoned with as well, in 3rd. “I didn’t really have any expectations coming into the weekend and was just hoping to have a couple of good race efforts”, said Lauren McCollor (NMU) who finished the day in 7th. “For the 15k on Saturday, I just wanted to stay with the pack for as long as possible and see what I had left. Unfortunately, my left calf cramped up on the second big climb, I skied with it for a while but decided to drop out around 10k because it wasn’t worth hurting it more. I was pretty disappointed but excited about the race on Sunday. I went out pretty hard and just tried to hang on for as long as possible. I died a little on the last couple of shorter climbs. Overall super happy with the race! Probably the best race of my season! Excited for one last race weekend in Duluth and then probably heading to Junior Nationals in a few weeks!” Victoria Dybwad topped the CSS women’s team in 9th, and Cheresa Bouley finished the day in 16th.
There is not much rest left for these collegiate skiers as they head to Duluth, MN next weekend for the NCAA Central Regional Championships, and then a select few will compete at the NCAA National Championships in Soldier Hollow March 9th-12th.
The CCSA went up to Houghton this past weekend for another round of racing before the CCSA Conference Champs.
In Saturday’s 15k freestyle individual start, Kjetil Banerud (MTU), once again, took another win, staking his position at the top of the CCSA season points list. Colin Freed (MTU) nabbed the 2nd fastest CCSA time of the day, leading his Husky teammates Skylar Patten and Felix Cottet-Puinel into positions 3 and 4. “Going into the weekend I was hoping to go for a top 12 finish to build off of last weeks performance and was hoping to stay competitive” commented CJ Young, who had a strong 11th place for UWGB. Approaching Saturday I was hoping to push through the tops of the big climbs to carry some speed and was hoping to be the first across the finish line as I was 5th out the gate.”
On the women’s side, Anabel Needham and Henriette Semb once again rose to the top in the women’s individual freestyle 10k. Merle Ritcher (NMU) proved that last weekend’s podiums were not a fluke, nabbing the last spot on the podium for the 3rd race in a row.
In Sunday’s 5k individual classic race, Semb and Needham swapped places to take 1st and 2nd, respectively and teammate Nea Katajala swept in to grab 3rd for a MTU sweep, along with her first CCSA podium. “My expectations going into the weekend was very low, I had just recovered from covid and was thinking to just make the best out of the situation”, said Victoria Dybwad who was the top CSS woman fininisher for the weekend, in 8th. “For Saturday’s race my approach was to go out and find a good pace and use the downhill to my advantage. For Saturday’s race I had more focus on my classic technique and hold it the whole race. Also to push myself since I started first and had no one around me to push me.”
Kjetil Banerud took his 2nd win of the weekend in the men’s 10k individual classic, after creating a commanding lead, and finished with just over a 30-second lead. 2nd place was Banerud’s NMU teammate, Daniel Streinz, with his first non-sprint podium of the year. Rounding off the top three, was Emil Book Bratbak (CSS), continuing his consistent season. “My expectations leading into this weekend were simply to reproduce what I did the last weekend at Mt Itasca”, said MTU freshman Félix Cottet-Puinel . “As a new student-athlete in this system since the beginning of this semester and as a former biathlete, I just try to take experience, give everything I have and simply have fun! In a certain way, you cannot really gain time on this course but only lose time. Anyways, I guess I succeed in the coach’s desire: giving everything I had, because I had to spend some time on the ground after the finish line!”
Images from Chris Schmidt
The CCSA gets some time off from racing until February 12th, when the Conference Championships will be held in Ishpeming, Michigan.
Coleraine, Minnesota brought frigid temperatures this past weekend, causing both Saturday and Sunday’s races to be delayed. Despite this, CCSA racing came back to the Midwest, with exciting finishes and results.
Saturday’s Skate Individual Start started out with a bang, with this season’s favorites, Anabel Needham and Henriette Semb taking the 1,2 for Michigan Tech. Merle Richter (NMU) came into 3rd, nabbing her first CCSA podium of her career. “Going into the weekend I just wanted to enjoy the variation in races (switched interval start and mass start) and have fun,” said Needham. One of our team goals this year was to sweep the podium and I really want that to happen, so having Henriette and our teammates so close to meeting this goal is so exciting! Over the next few weeks, I want to race hard and smile before each one with my teammates. We’re going to have a great season and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish!”
On the men’s side, Kjetil Banerud (NMU) had a dominant win, creating a minute gap over 2nd place and teammate Kristoffer Karsrud. Skylar Patten (MTU) continued his strong season, rounding off the podium. “I came into the weekend feeling ready to put together a set of good races after a somewhat disappointing US Nationals,” said Banerud. “I decided to open pretty hard on Saturday and build upon a strong first lap. I felt like I was moving well and when I got splits on all the three laps I understood that I was having a good race.”
Despite the large gaps in Saturday’s individual results, Sunday’s mass starts led to some competitive racing and exciting finishes. In the Men’s 10k mass start, Kjetil Banerud (NMU) tried to break away on the first lap but was caught by the chase group made up of Emil Book Bratbak (CSS), Kristoffer Karsrud (NMU) and Skylar Patten (MTU). Karsrud and Banerud led into the finish but were outsprinted by Book Bratbak, who nabbed the win. “I came into Sunday’s race with two different approaches, either go hard from the gun or wait and see how the race developed,” said Banerud, “I ended up doing something in between, starting to push the pace after 2-3km. I got a little gap at one point, but felt like I was struggling too much on the uphills to stay away from the chasing group.”
The women’s race was equally exciting, with a pack of Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan Women fighting for the win the entire way. With the top 3 finishing within a second and a half, Henriette Semb (MTU) took the title of the day over Anabel Needham (MTU) and Merle Richter (NMU). “This weekend was all about having a great time with the team and surviving the cold weather!” commented Semb “Sharing the podium twice with my very best roommate Anabel, and having generally awesome team results is just a perfect start for our college season! It makes us proud and excited for what’s ahead. With classes starting and homework piling up my only focus was to not stress myself and to maximize recovery prior to the races – while also enjoying the very best skiing in the Keweenaw”.
Photos from Dave Zoll
The CCSA makes its way up to Houghton next weekend for their last race weekend before Championship season starts. The CCSA Conference Championship is in Ishpeming, MI Feb 12-13, followed by the NCAA Central Regional Championships in Duluth Feb 19-20. Top athletes will then travel back to Soldier Hollow March 9-12 for the NCAA National Championships.
US Nationals took place over the past week in Salt Lake City Utah, providing a great chance for CCSA athletes to compete with the best professional skiers in the US. Athletes from Northern Michigan, Saint Scholastica, Michigan Tech, and St Olaf made the trek out to the west.
The skate sprint was Sunday, 1/2/22, brought one of the first challenges of the week- frigid temperatures, causing the races to be delayed in the morning. Katerina Hyncicova (NMU) and Anabel Needham (MTU) led the CCSA charge on the women’s side, qualifying in 20th and 25th respectively in the Senior women’s races Hyncicova finished the day in 9th and Needham finished the day in 19th. Lauren McCollor (NMU) qualified 7th in the junior Women heats finishing just off the podium in 4th place, Mia Case (CSS) qualified 19th and finished in the same position. On the men’s side, Adam Witkowski (MTU), Kjetil Baanerud (NMU), and John Schwinghamer (CSS) all qualified for the Sr Men’s heats, leading the big news of the day, with Schwinghamer having a strong performance in his quarter-final, placing 12th overall. Jasper Johnston placed 14th in the Junior Men’s heats.
Skate Sprints (Photo by Jackie Schneider)
The skate mass start started the warm up of the week, with temperatures rising from the rigid sprint day. In the Men’s 30k skate, Skylar Patten (MTU) raced to the top of the CSSA field in 20th. Teammates Mark Ousdigian and Tryg Solberg followed in 36th, and 40th respectively. In the women’s 20k mass start, Henriette Semb had a strong performance (MTU) in 20th, followed by Olivia Laven (MTU) in 32 and Anabel Needham (MTU) in 41. In junior races, Colin Freed was the top CCSA athletes in the men’s 10k, and Ingrid Halverson (MTU) was the top in the women’s 7.5k.
Skate Mass Start (Photo by Jackie Schneide)
After some rain in the rest day between races, techs had to prepare skis in wild conditions for the classic individual starts. After dealing with some COVID contact tracing during the mass starts, both CSS and NMU athletes were back in the mix. In the women’s 10k, Henriette Semb once again led the field with a strong 28th. Teammates Anabel Needham and Olivia Laven finished 31st and 47th. In the men’s 15k Kjetil Banerud (NMU) mixed it up again, taking 37th followed by Skylar Patten (MTU) in 58th and Colin Freed (MTU) in 60th.
Classic Distance (Photo by Jackie Schneider)
The last day of racing in Solider Hollow was the only SuperTour race of the series and proved to be a strong day for the CCSA athletes with strong performances in the qualifiers. Anabel Needham (MTU) and Henriette Semb (MTU) took their strong qualifiers (finishing 4th and 5th) into the heats, with Needham placing 11th overall. The men also had a strong day, with Kjtil Banerud (NMU) placing 12th, Kristoffer Karsrud (NMU) placing 15th, Daniel Streinz (NMU) 20th and Adam Witkowski (MTU) 28th. On the junior men’s side- Colin Freed (MTU), Hayden Ulbrich (CSS), Copper Lennox (NMU), and Jasper Johnston (MTU) qualified for heats. On the junior women’s side, Mia Case (CSS), Lauren McCollor (NMU), Gretchen Haggenmiller (NMU), Alice McKnight (MTU) all qualified for heats.
Photo by Jackie Schneider
The CSSA now gets 1 weekend off before racing again in the Midwest.
Another SuperTour race challenged the CCSA athletes in the Midwest again this past weekend, with a challenging skate mass start on Friday, a wicked fast classic sprint on Saturday, and a grueling classic individual start race on Sunday. The Cable SuperTour was the last series before U.S. Nationals in Soldier Hollow, Utah, allowing athletes to tune up their racing before the holidays.
In the Men’s 15k Skate on Friday, Kjetil Banrud (NMU) took the win for the CCSA finishing 16th overall, in a field of Olympic hopefuls. Skylar Patten led a very strong MTU team in 23rd, and Emil Book Bratbak rounded off the CCSA podium in 26th. In their 15k mass start, Anabel Needham (MTU) topped the CCSA field in 14th, closely followed by teammate Olivia Laven in 16th. Savanna Fassio (NMU) broke up the MTU perfect score by placing 18th.
On Saturday, Anabel Needham once again led the CCSA women’s field with a 10th place in the Classic Sprint, qualifying for the Semi-Final heats. Katerina Hyncicova (NMU), Savanna Fassio (NMU), Marie Wangen (MTU), Mia Case (CSS) and Oda Hovland (MTU) all qualified for the quarterfinal heats.
On the men’s side, Daniel Streinz (NMU) had an impressive showing in the SuperTour final heat, placing 4th. Tobias Moosmann (NMU), Parker Courte-Rathwel (MTU), Joseph Lynch (CSS), Adam Witkowski (MTU) also had strong top 30 finishes. “Before the classic sprint I was worried that with the little classic skiing we did due to the lack of snow it could be difficult to ski fast”, said Moosmann. “Nevertheless, it turned out fine and I was able to learn a lot during the quarterfinal”.
In the Junior heats, Victoria Dybwad and Avery Tolbert both of CSS had strong 3rd and 5th place performances. And the Junior boy heat’s saw Ryan Thieme (UWGB) in 3rd, and NMU’s Copper Lennox 6th.
The final race of the weekend was a 15k/10k individual classic start, leading to close finishes for top CCSA racer on both the men’s and women’s sides. Emil Book Bratbak took the top spot in 24th, just 3 seconds ahead of Tobi Moosmann. “Going into Sunday‘s race, I tried to pace myself well and keep the focus on skiing relaxed” commented Moosmann. “That went pretty well and I think the past two race weekends set a great base for the upcoming races”.Daniel Stienz had another strong performance placing 29th, and August Schatzlein finished in 30th.
The women’s race showcased Tech’s women, with Anabel Needham, Henriette Semb, and Oda Hovland claiming the top 3 CCSA women’s places. Savanna Fassio claimed the 4th spot in 24th, and Averey Tolbert (CSS) had a strong day in 27th. ” I felt strong and as though I paced my race very well” said Tolbert, “This weekend our coaches nailed the wax for the sprints and the distance race. The weather was perfect on Sunday in my opinion, and it was great to see everything come together so well”.
All photos by Jackie Schneider
The CCSA gets a little break after the past two SuperTour weekends, with the next races at U.S. Nationals in Soldier Hollow.
