Northern Michigan University men’s alpine skier Reed Heathman rounds a gate during a past Wildcats’ meet. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The men’s and women’s alpine ski teams at Northern Michigan University will both look to keep their perfect records intact this season when they venture to the USCSA Spirit Mountain meet in Duluth, Minnesota, today and Sunday.

In fact, between the two Wildcats teams, they have only missed one top-three podium spot among a possible two dozen over eight total races.

Racing is scheduled to run through 5:30 p.m. EST today and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST Sunday. Fans can follow along online at https://www.live-timing.com/races.php.

Two weeks ago at Giants Ridge in Biwabik, Minnesota, events were condensed from two days into one because of extreme cold, which even then was held with wind chills in the neighborhood of 20-below-zero.

The NMU women claimed nine of the top 10 finishes in giant slalom, including all three podium spots as Kaylee Byrne and Tommie Springer tied for the win with two-run combined times of 1 minute, 4.35 seconds.

The Northern men also took eight of the top nine positions in GS, including a sweep of the podium as Anthony Petkov won in 1:00.82 and Houghton native Eli Heathman second-fastest in 1:00.96.

In slalom, limited to one run due to impending darkness with the schedule squeezed into a single day, NMU took the first six spots led by Ashley Schaffer in 39.24 seconds and Springer taking second.

The men also swept first through sixth, led by Kyan Hopke in 33.84 seconds and Eli Heathman’s brother Reed Heathman in second.

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.