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Hosting at Al Quaal: Northern Michigan University nordic skiers host NCAA Central Regional Championships in February

Northern Michigan University men’s nordic skier Kristoffer Karsrud, right, skis alongside a fellow competitor at the Canadian Ski Championships and U.S. Supertour Finals held at Whistler Olympic Park in British Columbia in March. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — A home meet in Ishpeming during late February highlights the nordic ski schedule for the men’s and women’s teams at Northern Michigan University this winter.

Technically, the season runs from late fall — the second weekend of December — through the very beginning of spring as the last scheduled meet is in late March.

Regardless of when meets are held, these Wildcat teams tasted great success last season as the men won the NCAA Central Regional Championships and the women were runners-up in their same competition.

Both squads qualified their full teams to compete at the NCAA Championships in Utah. For skiers, that is the equivalent of Division I as nordic skiing is all held in one division.

This winter — er, late fall — the NMU teams open in Duluth, Minnesota, at the Grand Avenue Nordic CXC — which stands for Central Cross Country — Cup with classic individual starts on Sunday, Dec. 11, and skate sprint races a day later on Dec. 12.

Northern Michigan University nordic skier Katerina Hyncicova competes during the first day of the NCAA Championships held March 10 in Midway, Utah. (Photo courtesy NMU)

The following weekend will be a short jaunt to Houghton for the Pre-U.S. Nationals FIS CXC Cup on Dec. 17-18 to be hosted by Michigan Tech.

After the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Northern returns to Houghton for the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships from Jan. 2-7. This was a meet where numerous current and former Wildcats found success last season, according to an NMU Sports Information news release.

Northern’s lone meet in Wisconsin at the city of Cable will be Jan. 14-15 for the Seeley Hills SuperTour Central Collegiate Ski Association Invitational. Classic mass start is the first day and classic sprint the second.

Back-to-back trips to Minnesota follow, with a second trip of the season to Duluth on Feb. 4-5 for the Grand Avenue Nordic CCSA Invitational. Two weeks later, Feb. 18-19, is a jaunt to Minneapolis for CCSA Conference Championships. Last season, both NMU teams did well at the conference meet, the men winning and women runners-up.

Then comes their home meet on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 25-26, at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming for the NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships. Now-graduated Wildcat Kjetil Baanerud swept to victories in both men’s races at this event last season.

The final winter event for these NMU teams is the NCAA Skiing Championships on March 8 and 11 at Lake Placid, New York, the site of several Winter Olympics in their hundred-year history. The most recent Lake Placid-hosted NCAA finals was in 2015 when the Wildcats’ Frederik Schwenke won the national title in the 20-kilometer mass start classic, according to NMU Sports Information.

And the season just jumps into the spring with the March 22-25 SuperTour Finals set for Craftsbury, Vermont.

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

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