MARQUETTE, Mich. -- After a successful invite last week at the Ariens Nordic CCSA Invite, hosted by UW-Green Bay, where the teams battled through the cold and delays in Brillion, Wisconsin, both of the NMU nordic ski teams now head west to rival Michigan Tech's 'Tech Trails' course for the MTU Invite.
Both teams participated in the Tech Trails Scrimmage at the same course back in December. In addition, the last official race at Tech Trails was last season's CCSA Conference Championships where the Wildcats performed strongly on both racedays. The teams will look to gain an advantage over their rival this weekend on the road in Houghton in what looks primed to be a heated CCSA competition.
The MTU Invite will open for both teams with a 5k Classic Individual Start on Saturday, January 31st, followed by a 20k Skate Mass Start on Sunday, February 1st. At the time of writing, the weather in Houghton calls for cloudy skies with temperatures ranging from 15 to 30 degrees, with a 40 percent chance of less than an inch of snow Sunday evening.
Fans can follow along with live scoring through MyRaceResult. Start time's still TBD.
NMU has three men's and three women's skiers in the top-5 of their respective CCSA standings.
For the women, Henriette Nilssen remains in the top position with 80 total points after dominant performances in both the Freestyle and Classic Interval, with 40 points in both events. Greta Leitheiser moved up to second place overall with a 37 in Freestyle and a 27 in Classic Interval for a total of 64. Lauren McCollor moved up to third place overall with a 31 in both Freestyle and Classic Interval for a total of 62.
For the men, Luke Fricker leads the way in second place in the CCSA point standings with 37-point performances in both Freestyle and Classic Interval for a total of 74 points. Jonathan Clarke moved up to third place overall and now has 31 in both competitions for a total of 62 points, and tied for fifth place is Adrik Kraftson with 34 in the Freestyle and 21 in the Classic Interval for a total of 54 points.
Both Wildcat teams will look to continue their podium successes this weekend in Houghton.
Last Time Out (Women's Nordic)
The NMU women's Nordic ski team found resounding success at the first CCSA conference ski event, claiming three of the top four finishes.
In temperatures dipping close to negative figures at the Ariens Nordic Center, the 'Cats earned the top two podium spots and narrowly missed out on a podium sweep with the team's fourth-place finisher.
Junior Henriette Nilssen (Nittedal, Norway) earned gold with a blistering time of 32:37.0, the quickest time among the field by nearly a minute and a half.
Earning silver with the only other time sub-34 minutes was senior transfer Greta Leitheiser (Bend, Oregon), who earned a podium finish with her time of 33:51.3.
Graduate Student Lauren McCollor (Plymouth, Minnesota) posted her time of 34:10.5, missing a spot on the podium by just one second.
Junior Jordan Parent (Forest Lake, Minnesota) was the only other Wildcat in the top-20, as she finished 12th with a time of 36:04.6.
Last Time Out: (Men's Nordic)
The NMU men's Nordic ski team claimed three of the top four finishes at the first CCSA conference event of the season.
In temperatures dipping close to negative figures at the Ariens Nordic Center, the 'Cats earned silver, bronze, and a fourth-place finish in the 15k skate interval start.
The 'Cats were led by senior Luke Fricker (Canmore, Alberta), who earned a silver medal finish with his time of 28:41.9, six seconds behind Wes Campbell of Michigan Tech for gold.
Reigning CCSA Male Skier of the Year, redshirt junior Adrik Kraftson (Stillwater, Minnesota) earned a bronze-medal finish with his time of 28:58.9.
Senior Jonathan Clarke (Bloomington, Minnesota) rounded out the 'Cats in the top-10 with his time of 29:15.4, good enough to earn a fourth-place finish.
Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) Points/Rankings (From Jan. 26th through Feb. 1st, 2026)
Full rankings can be found here; NMU-specific standings can be found below
Men
