Men's Skiing 2/11/2026 11:18:00 AM Jack Belcher - Athletics Communications Assistant

PREVIEW: Nordic Ski at CCSA Conference Championships

As a team, the women are tied with Michigan Tech for first while the men trail the Huskies in second

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- After another successful CCSA invite to close the CCSA regular season in Houghton at the MTU Invite two weeks ago, the Northern Michigan men's and women's nordic ski teams will hit the road to Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to compete in the CCSA Conference Championship.

The Championship will open with the 10k Classic Mass Start for both teams on Saturday, February 14th, and will conclude with the 10k Freestyle Interval Start on Sunday, February 15th. Fans can follow along with live scoring through MyRaceResult. That live results link will be posted once made available.

The Wildcats will look to continue its successful season as both teams travel to compete for a CCSA conference title. The weather in Minneapolis at the time of writing calls for a warm and sunny winter weekend with temperatures averaging around the upper 40's with little to no chance of precipitation.

Heading into the postseason, the women's team is tied for 1st place with Michigan Tech, with both currently having 462 points. The men's team sits in second place for the season with 449 points, which places them just behind Michigan Tech's 472 points. In the overall standings, these totals give NMU 911 points, which is just behind Michigan Tech's 934.

For the men, NMU's top three skiers are in 2nd, 3rd, and 6th places, respectively. Leading the way is Luke Fricker with 148 points, which places him second in the CCSA. Just behind Fricker is Adrik Kraftson in third place overall with 128 points. Rounding out NMU's top three performers is Caden Albrecht with 101 points, which places him in sixth place overall.

For the women, NMU's top skiers are also in 2nd, 3rd, and 6th places, respectively. Leading the way is Lauren McCollor in second place overall with 125 points. Just behind McCollor is Greta Leitheiser, whose 118 points have her in third place in the CCSA currently. Despite not competing in the Tech Trails Freestyle due to illness, Henriette Nilssen is in sixth place overall with a points total of 111.

Both Wildcat teams will look to carry their success into this weekend in hopes of winning some hardware.

Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA) Points/Rankings (From Jan. 26th through Feb. 1st, 2026)
Full rankings can be found here; NMU-specific can be found below.

Men

Rank	Name	Age Group	Overall Pts	Best 2 FS	Best 2 CL	All CCSA Pts
2	Luke Fricker	Senior	148	74	74	148
3	Adrik Kraftson	Senior	128	74	54	128
6	Caden Albrecht	Senior	101	55	46	101
8	Johnathan Clarke	Senior	89	31*	58	89
18	Hendrik Peterson	Senior	51	31	20	51
28	Jack Dahlby	U20	12	3*	9	12

Women

Rank	Name	Age Group	Overall Pts	Best 2 FS	Best 2 CL	All CCSA Pts
2	Lauren McCollor	Senior	125	60	65	125
3	Greta Leitheiser	Senior	118	62	56	118
6	Henriette Nilssen	Senior	111	40*	71	111
14	Emma Klevenberg	Senior	63	22*	41	63
16	Jordan Parent	Senior	57	19*	38	57
19	Lena Kjelstrup	Senior	41	7*	34	20
22	Monet Argeropoulos	U20	35	16*	19	35
30	Riley Grossklaus	U20	17	3*	14	17
34	Meija Peterson	Senior	1	1*	0*	1
T35	Ella Niznik	Senior	0	0*	0*	0

*DNS IN AT LEAST ONE RACE IN THIS CATEGORY

Last Time Out (Women's Nordic)
The NMU women's nordic ski team had a great showing on day one of the MTU invite, making up half of the top-10 finishes in the 5k classic.

The 'Cats were led by graduate student Lauren McCollor (Plymouth, Minn.), who found the podium with a bronze medal for her time of 17:06.9. Junior Henriette Nilssen (Nittedal, Norway) and senior Greta Leitheiser (Bend, Ore.) rounded out the top-five with times of 17:24.3 and 17:33.0, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 was junior Jordan Parent (Forest Lake, Minn.) and freshman Emma Klevenberg (Gjoevik, Norway) in ninth and tenth with times of 17:50.5 and 18:05.8, respectively.

On the second day of competition from the Tech Trails on the campus of Michigan Tech, three student-athletes from NMU landed in the top-10 in the 20k mass start.

Lauren McCollor paced the way for NMU for the second-consecutive outing, finishing fifth with her time of 1:02:35.2. McCollor battled among the leaders all race: she was fifth at the 5k mark, first at the 10k mark, eighth at the 15k mark, before finishing back in fifth at the final. Greta Leitheiser had a great start to her race, as she was in second place through the 5k, 10k, and 15k marks. Leitheiser would cross the line at 1:02:46.4, and drop to seventh place. Emma Klevenberg started in 12th at the first mark before moving into ninth at the halfway point. She would then maintain her position, and crossed the line at 1:04:07.8 to claim ninth.

Last Time Out (Men's Nordic)
The NMU men's nordic ski team had a successful first day at the Michigan Tech Invite, landing two on the podium.

Senior Luke Fricker (Canmore, Alberta) and reigning CCSA Male Skier of the Year Adrik Kraftson (Stillwater, Minn.) earned silver and bronze for their performances in the 5k classic, posting times of 14:30.5 and 14:34.5, respectively. Senior Jonathan Clarke (Bloomington, Minn.) finished in sixth with a time of 14:57.4, and sophomore Caden Albrecht (Stillwater, Minn.) placed ninth to round out the Wildcats in the top-10, posting times of 14:57.4 and 15:09.5, respectively.

In the final race before conference championships, the NMU men's nordic ski team swept the podium in the 20k mass start on the campus of Michigan Tech. Adrik Kraftson and Luke Fricker paced the field the entire race, and would end up finishing one and two at 52:33.0 and 52:37.4. Caden Albrecht and Wes Campbell were caught in a photo finish, as both the racers crossed the line at 53:26.2, but Albrecht would inch out Campbell by 0.1 seconds to earn bronze.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Lena Kjelstrup: Sophomore

Lauren McCollor: Graduate Student

Henriette Nilssen: 5' 3"; Junior

Ella Niznik: Senior

Jordan Parent: Junior

Riley Grossklaus: Freshman

Emma Klevenberg: Freshman

Greta Leitheiser: Senior

Meija Peterson: Freshman

Jonathan Clarke: 5' 11"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Lena Kjelstrup
: Sophomore

Lauren McCollor
: Graduate Student

Henriette Nilssen
: 5' 3"; Junior

Ella Niznik
: Senior

Jordan Parent
: Junior

Riley Grossklaus
: Freshman

Emma Klevenberg
: Freshman

Greta Leitheiser
: Senior

Meija Peterson
: Freshman

Jonathan Clarke
: 5' 11"; Senior

Northern Michigan University

Search

PREVIEW: Nordic Ski at CCSA Conference Championships

As a team, the women are tied with Michigan Tech for first while the men trail the Huskies in second

Players Mentioned

Lena Kjelstrup

Lauren McCollor

Henriette Nilssen

Ella Niznik

Jordan Parent

Riley Grossklaus

Emma Klevenberg

Greta Leitheiser

Meija Peterson

Jonathan Clarke

Players Mentioned

Lena Kjelstrup

Lauren McCollor

Henriette Nilssen

Ella Niznik

Jordan Parent

Riley Grossklaus

Emma Klevenberg

Greta Leitheiser

Meija Peterson

Jonathan Clarke