Michigan Tech Lode
SPORTS
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Skiers compete at
13
Tour de Twin Cities
ELLIE FURMANSKI Lode Writer
This past weekend, the Michigan Tech Men’s and Women’s Nordic Ski teams competed in the Tour de Twin Cities freestyle and classic races at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota as part of the CCSA Central Super Tour. While both teams put forward several impressive individual finishes, their overall placement fell short to rivals University of Alaska Fairbanks, Northern Michigan University, and College of Saint Scholastica in the team standings. Competition began Saturday (Jan. 19) with the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle and men’s 10-kilometer freestyle races. Top finishers for the women included Lynn Duijndam, Sarah Daniels, and Rachel Mason. Duijndam finished first for the Huskies placing ninth (13: 11), just 20.5 seconds behind the first place finisher from University of Alaska Fairbanks. Daniels and Mason followed shortly coming in 16th (13:28) and 19th (13:40). Overall, the women finished third in team standings after day one. Raphael Bechtiger led the men’s team with a ninth place finish (22:44), coming in 59.1 seconds behind the first place finisher in the men’s 10-k freestyle. Teammates Jay Woodbeck, Luke Gesior, and Kyle Hanson also made top-20 finishes placing 12th (23:05), 13th (23:14), 16th (23:15), and 18th (23:25) respectively. Despite the strong team
effort, the men came in fourth in the team standings after day one of the competition. Sunday (Jan. 20) the skiers closed out the weekend competing in the women’s 15-kilometer classic and men’s 20-kilometer classic races. Daniels finished first for the women with a 12th place overall finish (49:54). Mason and Duijndam finished closely behind coming in 14th (50:11) and 22nd (52:25). Matt Wong’s strong 10th place finish (50:10) led the men’s team in the 20-k classic race. Gesior and Sondre Sandvik finished next for the Huskies placing 11th (50:17) and 17th (50:58). Overall, combined scores from the men’s and women’s teams for the weekend landed Tech in fourth place in the team standings with 213 points. The Huskies finished behind University of Alaska Fairbanks who earned 301 points, Northern Michigan (276 points), and Saint Scholastica (225 points). Individually, the women’s team tied for third with Saint Scholastica (106 points) behind Alaska (155 points) and Northern (133 points). The men’s team came in fourth with 107 points behind Alaska (146 points), Northern (141 points), and Saint Scholastica (119 points). Despite a disappointing overall finish in the team standings, head coach of the Huskies Joe Haggenmiller was impressed by some individual performances. The Huskies will look to improve as a team next weekend as they compete in the St. Scholastica Michigan Tech skiers compete earlier this season. Invitational January 26-27 in Biwabik, Minnesota.
Photos by Scott Thompson