×

Northern Michigan University nordic skier Merle Richter named as Performance of the Week in Central Collegiate Ski Association

MARQUETTE — A Northern Michigan University redshirt freshman winning her first two podium spots earned the Performance of the Week Award from the Central Collegiate Ski Association in a meet at Mount Itasca in Coleraine, Minnesota, last weekend.

Merle Richter finished third in a pair of women’s races, her first podium spots as a collegiate racer. She was a bronze medalist in the 10-kilometer individual start race on Saturday in 31 minutes, 7.55 seconds, then earned the same place in the 7.5K classic mass start race on Sunday in 23:22.9.

“It was great to see Merle finally get rewarded for all the hard work that she has put in her training,” first-year NMU nordic skiing head coach Andy Keller said. “This past weekend had results that we knew she was capable of achieving, but some bad luck spoiled her racing last year.

“I think her best is yet to come, and I’m excited to see what a few more race opportunities can do for her.”

Despite conditions that included temperatures near zero, Richter was just the tip of the iceberg in the Wildcats’ success.

Also for the Northern women, senior Katerina Hyncicova was fifth in the Saturday 10K in 31:58.86 and redshirt freshman Pearl Harvey sixth in 32:00.79.

In Sunday’s 7.5K, senior Hilde Eide was fifth in 23:50.7 and Hyncicova sixth in 23:52.6.

In the men’s races, NMU senior Kjetil Baanerud won Saturday’s 15K men’s race in 37:59.52 and was second Sunday in the men’s 10K in 27:28.9, just two-tenths of a second out of first.

Northern redshirt freshman Kristoffer Karsrud was second Saturday in 39:02.76 and third Sunday in 27:29.4.

Teammate Daniel Streinz was fifth Saturday in 39:29.07 and also fifth Sunday in 28:07.3, while Tobias Moosmann was 10th Saturday in 40:10.21 and seventh Sunday in 28:31.2.

In addition, Wildcats senior Xavier Mansfield was sixth Saturday in 39:37.25.

The NMU nordic teams are back in action this weekend at the CCSA Michigan Tech Invitational in Houghton, skiing men’s 15K and women’s 10K races Saturday and classic sprints on Sunday.

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

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today