HOUGHTON, Mich. - The NMU Nordic Skiing team raced at the Pre-Nationals CCSA Invite/CXC Cup this weekend, where the men took first and the women placed second.
The Wildcats earned six individual podium finishes (top-3) on the weekend. NMU dominated the freestyle sprint on Sunday, claiming 5-of-6 podium finishes between the men and women. Kristoffer Karsud stood atop the podium for the men with teammates
Adrik Kraftson and
Luke Fricker joining him in a Wildcat sweep.
Katerina Hyncicova took second and
Merle Richter placed third for more representation on the podium on the women's side.
On Saturday,
Adrik Kraftson placed second in the distance race.
The men accrued 61 points on day one and 72 on day two for a winning total of 133, besting Michigan Tech's 126. The women totaled 60 on Saturday and 66 on Sunday for 126 points, taking second to MTU's 138.
Saturday - Interval Start 10k
On Saturday's freestyle interval start, two Wildcats on the men's side earned top-ten finishes, with
Adrik Kraftson finishing in a time of 25:43.9, roughly 22 seconds behind Michigan Tech's Skylar Patten who took first.
Kristoffer Karsrud placed sixth with a time of 26:54.7
For the women,
Merle Richter earned the top finish for the Green and Gold, crossing in sixth place with a time of 32:06.8. Right behind her was
Pearl Harvey finishing at 32:17.0.
Katerina Hyncicova also made it inside the top ten, finishing ninth in a time of 32:49.2. Michigan Tech's Olivia Laven won the event with a time of 30:47.7.
Both the men and the women were second in the standings trailing Michigan Tech after the first day of competition.
Sunday - Freestyle Sprint
The Wildcats swept the podium on the men's side.
Kristoffer Karsrud took first with a time of 2:40.18. In second place was
Adrik Kraftson, crossing the finish line at 2:43.45. Rounding out the Green and Gold podium was
Luke Fricker, finishing at 2:44.55.
Two women made the podium in the sprints.
Katerina Hyncicova placed second with a finishing time of 3:05.30 while
Merle Richter was third at 3:07.54. Michigan Tech's Anabel Needham won the sprint with a time of 3:02.28.
The men finished first on the day and did enough to sit atop the standings for the weekend. The women narrowly finished second on Sunday and stayed put for runner-up at the meet.
Up Next
The Wildcats will race at the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships in Houghton from January 2-7.
