MARQUETTE On a sunny – but cold – Saturday morning, a local skier won the Noquemenon 50K Classic Marathon.

Not surprisingly, it was a former Northern Michigan University star. Kyle Bratrud took the title with a time of 2:25:28.2, five minutes ahead of second place finisher Nick Power of Minneapolis (2:30:47.5).

Bratrud, originally from Eden Prairie (Minnesota), now lives in Marquette after his NMU career finished up last spring. He won the 15K Freestyle U.S. Cross Country Championships his senior year at Northern.

Saturday, he built a solid lead toward the final stretch of the course and rode it to victory.

“My plan at the beginning was just to hang out and let everyone else do the leading,” he said. “I’ve been pretty sick the last three weeks, so I wasn’t really sure how my body would respond.

“It was a pretty chill pace for 18K. At 32K, I went to the front just to see where everyone was at. Nobody responded, so I just went out on my own.

“It was great skiing out there and my body felt good,” Bratrud added.

He said the winning purse of $1,000 will help him as he continues his skiing career with some trips to Europe. He added he wants to race the Noque again next year

“The conditions were great,” he said. “I heard there was some concern over lack of snow in certain areas, but I didn’t feel like there were any issues out there. I thought it was great skiing and most of the trails were perfect. I can’t complain.

“It feels good to win,” Bratrud added. “I was living up here this year, so it was easy. I’d like to come back and try to defend my title. I love the course, so I’d love to come back.”

Power was a little disappointed that Bratrud passed him, but was happy with second place. He finished just less than a minute ahead of Chris Pappathopoulus of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin (2:31:43.9).

“It was a pretty good race,” Power said. “The hills were really steep, but it was a good course.

“Kyle broke away early, so I just decided to try to see if I could hold onto second. I’m a little disappointed because I wish I could’ve stayed with Kyle and I thought I had the finish to do it, but second is good.

“This is my first time doing the Noque, so I was unfamiliar with the course and I was a little hesitant, so I tried to play it smart,” he added. “Once he (Bratrud) broke away, there was a pack with me, so I decided to hold onto the pack and then make my move. If the scheduling is right, I’ll come back next year and hopefully try to do a little better.”

Eli Brown from downstate Williamsburg (2:32:23.4) and Andrew Brown of St. Paul, Minnesota (2:32:37.9) rounded out the top five.

The next highest local skier was Joe Bettendorf of Marquette, who finished in sixth place (2:37:10.9).

On the women’s side, Natalia Naryshkina from Verona, Wisconsin, won the title again with a time of 2:50:25.1. She built as much as a nine-minute lead at one point, cruising to the victory.

Two Minnesotans, Kim Rudd of the St. Paul metro area (3:02:35.8) and Alice Flanders of Crystal (3:03:36.0), finished second and third respectively.

Rudd coaches skiing at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in the Twin Cities. She’s quite familiar with the Noquemanon as she won it back in 2013.

“It was a good race (Saturday),” Rudd said. “I did it a couple of years ago and I just love this race. It’s just awesome.

“It’s like my little getaway from coaching.”

Flanders is a student at Michigan Tech and was on the Nordic ski team there until she graduated. She was asked to compete by the Central Cross Country Ski Association and was thrilled to finish in the top three during her first year in the Noque.

“I’m happy to be done,” Flanders said with a laugh. “It’s always a good goal to have, and it’s exciting to be able to achieve it.”

Downstaters Ellen Wiitala of Ann Arbor (3:13:25.5) and Kaitlyn Patterson of Cadillac (3:17:31.3) ended the women’s top five.

In the 50K Freestyle, Michael Brothers (Monument, Colorado) won the men’s title (2:19:02.0), while Marquette’s Vicki Asmus won the women’s championship for the second year in a row (2:47:02.4).

Joan Rundman of Hancock took first in the women’s 24K Classic (1:24:45.4) and Nick Petersen of Green Bay won the men’s title (1:15:23.7).

A pair of Marquette residents won the 24K Freestyle race. Dan Dehlin finished first in the men’s contest (1:00:47.5), while Lindsey Dehlin (1:03:40.8) won the women’s event.

Teenagers Lance Rambo of Marquette (0:39:28.8) and Niki Roxbury of downstate Traverse City (0:42:27.9) won the 12K Classic, while teens Nikolai Huotari of Houghton (0:34:35.4) and Kathryn Clulo of Traverse City (0:44:08.6) took first in the 12K Freestyle.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.