Northern Michigan University women’s nordic skier Henriette Nilssen takes part in a Wildcats’ meet earlier this season. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — Led by a pair of the best skiers from the conference and aided by several more who could challenge for top spots, the men’s and women’s nordic ski teams at Northern Michigan University can feel confident heading into the NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships in Duluth, Minnesota, today and Saturday.

The Wildcats are coming off a successful weekend at the Central Collegiate Ski Association conference championships held in Minneapolis on Feb. 14-15.

Now they’re looking for good enough results to advance to the NCAA Championships scheduled for Soldier Hollow in Park City and Midway, Utah, on March 12 and 14.

This weekend’s events are being held at Spirit Mountain, a 7.5-kilometer classic individual start today and a 20K mass start on Saturday.

Weather could be interesting there. While no snow or rain is predicted, temperatures are forecast to be in the low 40s today, then below 20 degrees on Saturday.

With starting times not being officially announced, fans can follow along with live scoring through the MyRaceResult website at https://my.raceresult.com/385009/.

Here is more about the Northern men’s and women’s teams as they head for regionals:

Women

At the CCSA conference championships two weeks ago, NMU junior Henriette Nilssen emerged as the No. 1 woman skier in the CCSA with 191 points in the conference.

She won the conference title in the 10K mass start race in the Twin Cities, also finishing second among all collegiate skiers and ninth overall in 30 minutes, 11.3 seconds. She finished within a minute of the top skier, which included some professionals.

Senior teammate Greta Leitheiser was next for NMU in 30:47.6, which was second in the conference and 14th overall. Then for Northern came graduate student Lauren McCollor in sixth in the CCSA, freshman Emma Klevenberg eighth in conference and Marquette graduate and Wildcats freshman Monet Argeropoulos 10th in the CCSA.

NMU performed just as well on the second day in the 10K freestyle to wrap up the conference title.

Nilssen won again, this time in 25:04.4, placing second among all college skiers and seventh overall, within a minute again of the overall winner.

Leitheiser was fourth in the CCSA in 25:31.1, McCollor seventh in 26:06.1 and Klevenburg 10th in 26:57.8.

Men

The Northern men put up high finishes in a similar fashion to its women’s team, including three in the top five in the 10K mass start and four in the top 10 on day 2’s 10K freestyle.

On day 1, senior Luke Fricker won the CCSA title and was second overall in 24:01.2, just 0.9 of a second behind the winner. Junior Adrik Kraftson was third in the conference and 15th overall in 24:42.2, while senior Jonathan Clarke was fifth in the CCSA and 20th overall in 25:01.3.

Also finishing well was NMU sophomore Caden Albrecht in ninth in the conference and 42nd overall in 26:28.2.

The second day turned out just as well when the Wildcats clinched the CCSA championship.

Kraftson won on this day for CCSA racers, also placing 10th overall, in 22:05.9 and within a minute of the overall winner. Fricker was second in the conference and 13th overall in 22:13.2.

Then Albrecht came in eighth in the CCSA and 42nd overall in 23:43.0, with Clarke 10th in conference and 46th overall.

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.