Collegiate Racing Recap: CCSA, RMISA
Week after week the racing rolls on: it’s the flag waving in victory, the fist pump at the finish line, the chorus of the school song. Camaraderie and competition, the surge of success and the depletion of defeat. But most of all, it’s the joy in the journey that each racer relies upon.
Welcome to week four of collegiate racing!
CCSA
The CCSA traveled to Houghton to race on the challenging Tech Trails for the last races before Conference Championships.
Day 1, 10/15k Skate Individual Start
On the first day of competition, Kjetil Banerud (NMU, NOR) placed first ahead of LNR junior Adrik Kraftson and freshman Colin Freed (MTU) in third. Freed has had a strong start to his first collegiate season and this race was no different. “I really wanted to perform my best at our home race,” said Freed. “I had the podium in the back of my mind, but my main goal was to hold nothing back and race as hard as I could. I knew I had a good start when halfway through the first lap, my coach told me I was sitting in 5th. In the middle of the race, I focused on skiing each part of the course as it came and being efficient on the uphills. With 2.5K left, I knew it was now or never, so I gave it everything through the finish.” Freed also highlighted the positive training environment on the Huskies’ team and his focus on enjoying the process: “I know that the results and efforts will come when I’m having fun racing.”
Freed’s teammate, Henry Snider, placed 7th, with Xavier Mansfield (NMU) in 8th, CJ Young (UWGB) 11th, Tryg Solberg (MTU) 12th, August Schatzlein (CSS) 15th, and Jasper Johnston (MTU) 15th.
On the women’s side, Anabel Needham took the victory by thirty-five seconds over her teammate Henriette Semb (NOR). Merle Richter (NMU, GER) placed third. Cheresa Bouley (UWGB) placed 10th with Emma Stertz (CSS) in 11th and MTU first-year Ingrid Halverson earning her first top-15. Stertz, who doubles as a biathlete and is especially strong in the skating technique shared some thoughts from the race and season: “This weekend as a whole went really well for the Saints women! Going into the skate race, I wanted to focus on continuing to work the gradual climbing section after the 3.5k mark on the course. Having Hilde to pull me on that section of the second lap really helped me dig deep into the finish. We have a really strong women's team this year and I'm excited to see what we can do as we get into championship racing!”
Day 2, 5/10k Classic Individual Start
Kjetil Banerud (NMU, NOR) continued his weekend domination with a thirty-five second win over teammate Daniel Streinz. Emil Book Bratbak, who is proving to be an especially competitive classic skier this year, placed third. Henry Snider (MTU) placed 6th for collegiate racers. “After a good Skate race on Saturday I wanted to do better on Sunday which meant top five,” said Snider. “My strategy was to ski as smoothly as I could, like on Saturday, and push the flats as much as possible. I ended up getting a slower start than I wanted and I was in about 10th after the first lap. I knew I would be able to push harder on the second lap and was able to move myself back up to 6th and equal my result from Saturday.” Snider will be aiming for a spot at NCAA’s.
Mark Ousdigian (MTU) placed 8th, Xavier Mansfield (NMU) 9th, Colin Freed (MTU) 12th, and August Schatzlein (CSS) was 15th.
MTU teammates Anabel Needham and Henriette Semb (NOR) continued their intra-team battle for the top of the women’s CCSA. Just like last weekend, it was Semb who came out on top in the classic race, this time by eight seconds over Needham. This back and forth is fun to follow. First year Nea Katajala (MTU, FIN) made it a Huskies sweep, placing third.
Mia Case (CSS) placed 9th with Lauren McCollor (NMU) in 15th.
The CCSA takes a weekend off to prepare for the Conference Championships which will hosted at Al Quaal February 12th and 13th.
RMISA
RMISA traveled to the great white north to race in Fairbanks for the first time since 1986.
Day 1, 5/10k Classic Team Wave Start
The first day of competition was a team wave start format. All skiers from a team started at the same time, with two minutes between each team. Each skier’s individual time was taken for the final results.
Utah continued to show the strength of their women’s team, even with Novie McCabe and Sophia Laukli at the Olympics, sweeping the podium: Sydney Palmer-Leger in first, Julia Richter (GER) was second, and Karianne Dengerud (NOR) finished in third. Abby Jarzin (UU) placed 11th. Jarzin said, “The team start is a super fun format and almost feels like a team time trial. It was a really cold day, which I knew going into it so I tried to warm up as best as I could and get to the line warm. The Utah girls went out fast and I tried to stay the pace as long as I could. Though I didn’t stay on for the whole race it was fun to see my teammates sweep the podium!”
Midwesterners Emma Albrecht (MSU) and Sarah Olson (UAF) were 17th and 28th, respectively.
On the guy’s side, it was two Norwegian brothers racing for Denver that took the race. Andreas Kirkeng and Ole Marius Kirkeng went one-two. Magnus Boee (CU, NOR) was the next collegiate racer.
Day 2, 10k Skate Pursuit
Sydney Palmer-Leger (UU) finished the pursuit race over a minute ahead of Kendall Kramer (UAF). Hannah Abrahamsson (CU, SWE) placed third. Abby Jarzin had a really strong race, moving up to fifth. “I was excited for the pursuit format since I like skate distance more,” she said. “I went out and tried to catch up to the girls starting in front. It was even colder than the day prior so a lot of what I was thinking about during the race was how cold my body felt…not necessarily what you want to think about during a race! I’m looking forward to the next couple days of racing.”
Emma Albrecht (MSU) placed 23rd with Sarah Olson (UAF) in 24th.
RMISA stays in Fairbanks to race at Birch Hill again, for the RMISA invitational, February 5th and 6th.
EISA
The Eastern colleges had a weekend off of official racing but some skiers jumped into the Lake Placid SuperTour. The top collegiate guy in the classic sprint was Keelan Durham from Williams College. The top woman was Callie Young of Dartmouth. In the skate mass starts it was Wally Magill (DAR) and Minnesota’s Mara McCollor (DAR) who took top collegiate honors.
The EISA heads to Craftsbury this weekend to race February 4th and 5th in conjunction with the SuperTour.
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About the author... Luke Brown, a graduate of Minnehaha Academy and Dartmouth College, is a skier and biathlete for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. He enjoys running in the mountains, writing, and eating cereal with whole milk. He lives in Craftsbury, VT. |