Some of the top skiers in the country, including many with Olympic aspirations, take part in the events that began Thursday and run through Tuesday.

Baanerud was fourth in the men’s freestyle sprint held Thursday in 3 minutes, 15.17 seconds. Freshman teammate Tobias Moosmann was ninth in 3:16.11, with senior Mathias Aas-Rolid 10th in 3:16.32, junior Daniel Streinz 14th in 3:13.56 and freshman Maurus Grond 16th in 3:18.56 as 198 men took part.

In the women’s sprint, NMU freshman Molly Miller was the top junior finisher and 10th overall in 3:55.21, with sophomore teammate Katerina Hyncicova 19th in 3:56.03, freshman Hilde Eide 23rd in 3:54.50, sophomore Savanna Fassio tied for 39th in 4:00.24 and sophomore Nadine Matter tied for 41st in 4:00.74 among 171 women listed as finishers.

During Friday’s individual-start freestyle for the men, Baanerud again paced Northern in 33rd place in 39:13.8 in this 15-kilometer race.

Molly Miller

Aas-Rolid was 44th in 39:40.3, Grond 45th in 39:41.1, Moosmann 47th in 40:00.0 and freshman Matt Bourne 150th in 44:00.6 among 221 finishers.

Several former Wildcats also had top-notch finishes, led by Bratrud winning the race by nearly 13 seconds in 36:47.9. He now races for the Stratton Mountain T2 team out of Vermont. Ex-NMU skier Ian Torchia was third in 37:22.2 and also former Northern competitor Adam Martin was fifth in 37:41.6.

For the women in their 10K event, Eide led NMU, this time in 23rd in 30:12.4 in a field of 176 finishers.

Fassio was 38th in 30:51.0, Miller 42nd in 30:58.2, Hyncicova 45th in 30:59.8, Matter 57th in 31:27.9 and freshman Pauline Forren 113th in 33:26.2.

Racing was scheduled to continue Sunday in the classic mass start and finish on Tuesday with the classic sprint.

Hilde Eide

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.