Kyle Bratrud: Great Final Weekend

The countdown to NCAA's has begun! With another Regionals in the book, I can say I am very happy with my shape going into NCAAs.

Beginning with the classic race, I went in with the goal of gliding on my skis. I felt I did that very poorly at Conference and I wanted to try and fix it as I knew I had the shape to ski very well if I could execute. I was very satisfied with my technique and after getting splits that I was 15 seconds down to the lead I was able to slowly claw it to 9 and then 7 and finally over take it at the end. I would have to say that was my most satisfying race this year.

The skate race was a little different. I wanted to make it very interesting since Tech has a tendency to keep the group very tight till the very end, but my legs did not have the energy. My teammate Erik Soderman, however, did have energy and split the race wide open on the third lap. I initially tried to close the gap, but as it was taking a lot of energy out of me and I was dragging the whole group, so I backed off and skied comfortably until the final hill where I again gave it the beans. I could not be happier with my CCSA season. One of my goals this year was to finally win a CCSA race (I have quite a few seconds to my name). I was able to win three! I also was able to podium in the final 8 races and in 9 of the 10 races we did so I am very happy with my consistency.

Unfortunately, my race off the podium comes from Utah where I absolutely fell apart in the skate mass start and since NCAA's will be back there, I have a lot of things I want to focus on regarding altitude racing.

I have to say one more time how happy I am to ski for such a dominant team. At one point when Erik broke in the skate race I counted five NMU skiers one after the other skiing at the front. It is a shame you can only send three to NCAA's as I feel we have four guys (minus our redshirt) that could be All-American.

Thanks for following me all season! I will try and post from Park City next week!

About the author... NCAA All American Kyle Bratrud is entering his third season as an NMU Wildcat under Sten Fjeldheim. Spurred on by his World Junior participation last season, he is pursuing his dreams of making it on to the US Ski Team with everything he’s got. As a college athlete, Kyle will be sharing his thoughts, training, and racing experiences as he travels and competes around the college circuit and hopefully beyond.