ISHPEMING – The Northern Michigan University nordic ski team took the top four places in both the men’s and women’s classic races to wrap up competition at the NMU Open on Sunday at Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming.

NMU sophomores Adam Martin and Kristen Bourne won their respective races for the Wildcats.

They also ended up as the overall No. 1 finishers after combining Saturday’s freestyle race times.

Racers from Michigan Tech and the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, also competed, along with several unaffiliated racers whose times didn’t count in the college standings.

NMU had 48 points to win the men’s meet, followed by MTU with 22 and CSS 20. For the women, Northern had 48 points, CSS 24 and MTU 18.

On Sunday, Bourne crossed the finish line in the 10-kilometer women’s classic race in 33 minutes, 8.4 seconds after the pursuit start that staggered starts based on Saturday’s times.

Junior Felicia Gesior finished second for NMU in 33:26.7, followed by freshman Vivian Hett in third in 33:36.2 and senior Jordyn Ross in fourth in 33:43.0.

Other NMU racers with their places and times were sophomore Megan Edic, sixth in 33:53.7, sophomore Sophie Schimpl, seventh in 33:54.4, freshman Rebekka Schueder, 12th in 35.00.0, junior Hannah Boyer, 14th in 35:11.5, and freshman Caroline Brisbois, 15th in 35:35.5.

Former Wildcat skier Rosie Frankowski, skiing as an unattached racer since her eligibility has been used up, actually won the women’s race in 32:59.7.

Martin won the men’s 15K classic in 40:51.2, followed by freshman Ian Torchia who finished second just 2.2 seconds off of Martin’s time (40:53.4). Senior Kyle Bratrud crossed the line in third in 41:07.8 and sophomore Fredrik Schwencke was fourth in 42:31.5.

Also for NMU, senior Erik Soderman was seventh in 43:08.8 and sophomore Krystof Kopal was ninth in 43:25.1.

“The second day of racing went well; the trail held up well considering the warm weather, thanks to the efforts of the groomers at the Al Quaal ski trails,” NMU head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “Because of warm overnight weather, it actually worked better for them to not bring their machines on the trails to prepare for (Sunday’s) race.”

“The team skied well and it was good to see our freshman athletes challenge the upperclassmen. Freshman Ian Torchia showed he has what it takes to be competitive in NCAA skiing, along with freshman Vivian Hett.”

In the overall two-day pursuit, Frankowski finished 10.7 seconds ahead of Bourne, who was the top collegiate skier in 46:03.9. Ross was second collegiately with the help of her winning time Saturday, then came Gesior, Hett and Edic in third through fifth, respectively. Schimpl was seventh, Schueder ninth, Brisbois 14th and Boyer 15th.

Northern nailed down the top five spots in the men’s pursuit, with Martin coming in at 1:03.47.2, exactly one second ahead of Bratrud. Then came Torchia, Soderman and Schwencke in third through fifth, while Kopal was ninth.

The Wildcats return to action on Saturday and Sunday at the Michigan Tech Junior Olympics Qualifying Pre-U.S. Nationals meet in Houghton.

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