North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University Men's Nordic Ski team is set to compete in the NCAA Skiing Championships this week in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The events are scheduled for Thursday, March 7, and Saturday, March 9.

The NCAA Men's and Women's Skiing Committee has selected Luke Fricker, Kristoffer Karsrud, and Mathias Haugen from the Wildcats to participate in the national competition. The championships will feature a 7.5km Individual Freestyle event on Thursday and a 20km Mass Start Classical event on Saturday. These nordic skiing events will take place at Howelsen Hills and can be viewed via live stream on NCAA.com.

In their previous outing at the NCAA Central Regional Skiing Championships held at Tech Trails in Houghton on February 24 and 25, Luke Fricker led the Wildcats by securing a silver medal with a time of 16:16.8 in the 7.5km Freestyle race. Kristoffer Karsrud followed closely behind, finishing sixth with a time of 16:54.8.

During the second day of competition, adjustments were made due to insufficient snow, resulting in a change from a Mass Start to an Interval Start for the 20km race. Despite these changes, Karsrud finished second with a time of 57:17.1, just behind Michigan Tech's Skylar Patten who clocked in at 56:20.0. Fricker earned another medal by finishing third with a time of 57:24.1.

Overall, the Northern Michigan University team secured second place at the regional championships with a total score of 99 points—47 points were earned on the first day and 52 points on the second day.