Northern Michigan University’s men nordic skier Luke Fricker races during a past Wildcats’ meet. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — It should be at least a bit warmer in Houghton this weekend than it was just south of Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Sunday when the nordic ski teams from Northern Michigan University took part in their first conference meet of the season.

With wind chills that were well below zero in Wisconsin, this weekend highs are forecasted to be in the 20s and close to 30 on Saturday and Sunday for the Michigan Tech Invitational.

Both Wildcats men and women took part in another scrimmage on the MTU Trails in December, while the last official race at Tech was last season’s Central Collegiate Ski Association Conference Championships that NMU did quite well in.

Saturday’s racing features a five-kilometer classic individual start, with a 20K skate mass start on Sunday. Michigan Tech’s athletics website at michigantechhuskies.com said start times are 9:30 a.m. for the women and 11:15 a.m. for the men on Saturday, then the men at 9 a.m. and women at 10:45 a.m. Sunday.

Fans can follow the action online through MyRaceResult.

MTU also said there are additional high school and middle school races scheduled for later each day. Saturday for high school begins at 12:45 p.m. and middle school at 2 p.m., while on Sunday, high schoolers start at 1 p.m. and middle schoolers at 1:30 p.m.

For NMU, Henriette Nilssen is No. 1 in the CCSA for women with a perfect 80 points, attaining a first-place total of 40 points in two races. Teammate Greta Leitheiser moved into second place with 64, while Northern’s Lauren McCollor is third with 62.

Among the Wildcat men, Luke Fricker has 74 points to be No. 1 in the CCSA, with teammate Jonathan Clarke third with 62 and NMU’s Adrik Kraftson fifth with 54.

At the Ariens Nordic CCSA Invite on Sunday in Brillion, Wisconsin, Northern’s men and women’s each took three of the top four places, including a victory by Nilssen in the women’s event by nearly a minute and a half.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.