Collegiate Racing Recap: CCSA, EISA

by Luke Brown
February 16, 2022

As we approach the beginning of championship season, skiers are looking to come into top form. Workouts become more dialed, races become more competitive, and goals begin to take shape. This is the crux of the season. This is what it’s all about.

Welcome to week six of collegiate racing.

CCSA

The Central Collegiate Ski Association traveled to Ishpeming this past weekend for their Conference Championships. It was another cold weekend of racing in the Upper Peninsula.

Day 1, 15/20k Skate Mass Start

In the women’s 15k, Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech alternated the first six finishing places. Merle Richter (NMU, GER) took the victory over MTU’s Anabel Needham by seven seconds. Hilde Eide (NMU, NOR) rounded out the podium in third.

Cheresa Bouley of St. Cloud State had a career best performance, placing seventh. Bouley, who attended Zimmerman High School in Minnesota, said, “I was hoping to feel good during the skate mass start - stay strong and relaxed throughout, and I did.” Bouley’s goal for the race was a top-ten result. A job well done, Cheresa!

Fellow Midwesteners Emma Stertz (CSS) and Gretchen Haggenmiller (MTU) placed 12th and 15th, respectively.

In the men’s race, the Michigan Tech Huskies placed four athletes in the top five spots. But it was NMU’s Kjetil Banerud (NOR) who took the victory. Just four seconds back was Skylar Patten (MTU) in second with Colin Freed (MTU) taking third.

Henry Snider (MTU) placed 5th with CJ Young (UWGB) in 6th. It was Young’s best CCSA result to date. “Going into the race I was hoping to get a top ten finish and to stay on the lead pack as long as I could and keep my eyes on them the rest of the race,” said Young. “I was able to ski with the lead pack for 15k or so and this helped a lot because they were doing a majority of the work there. I was able to keep pushing through to the end of the race with Henry who I have trained with over the past few summers and finishing strong giving me my best finish yet. The training I have been putting in with my teammates and coach at Green Bay has really been paying off and I have everything I need to be a competitive skier and the results are showing that all while having fun too!”

Young skiing to a strong result in the mass start (Credit: Tom Woolhouse)

August Schatzlein (CSS) placed 7th, with Xavier Mansfield (NMU) in 8th, Tryg Solberg (MTU) 10th, Lars Dewall (CSS) 11th, Mark Ousdigian (MTU) 13th, Ryan Thieme (UWGB) 14th, and Jasper Johnston (MTU) in 15th.

Day 2, 5/10k Classic Individual Start

On the second day of racing, it was another first time CCSA winner for the women, with Nea Katajala (FIN) of MTU taking the victory. Henriette Semb (MTU, NOR) was second with Merle Richter (NMU, GER) in third. Anabel Needham (MTU) was just off the podium in fourth.

First year Lauren McCollor placed 7th. “Going into the 5k classic I just wanted to see what I could do after having a tough race on Saturday,” said McCollor. “I had a good start position, between Merle and Anabel, to get splits. I went out pretty hard and had some time made up on Merle through the first 2k but I had gone out a little too hard and died a bit the second half of the race.”

McCollor striding to seventh (Credit: Photo Provided)

McCollor also offered a great perspective on moving from high school to collegiate racing. “My major takeaways for my first year so far has been to believe that I can ski with my competition. I’m used to more high school or junior racing where most of the competitors are around my age. Now pretty much everyone is older than me. I don’t have as much experience or years of training as them often so it can be a bit intimidating, especially in longer races. But I think this is more of a mental thing that if you can get past it’s just like racing anyone else.”

Mia Case (CSS) placed 12th with Gretchen Haggenmiller (MTU) in 13th.

In the men’s 10k, Kjetil Banerud (NMU, NOR) won again, sweeping the weekend. This time it was Skylar Pattern (MTU) in second. Emil Book Bratbak (CSS) was third. Xavier Mansfield (NMU) took an impressive fourth position.

John Schwinghammer (CSS) placed 7th, Henry Snider (MTU) was 8th, with Cooper Lennox (NMU) in 10th, Lars Dewall (CSS) in 12th, August Schatzlein (CSS) in 13th, with a tie for 14th between CJ Young (UWGB) and Colin Freed (MTU).

The Regional Championships for the CCSA are next weekend, February 19th and 20th, in Duluth.

EISA

The Eastern carnival circuit found its way to Oak Hill for the Dartmouth Carnival during a warm two-day stretch.

Day 1, 5/10k Classic Individual Start

The race weekend began on Friday with the women’s 5k. Jasmine Drolet (DAR, CAN) took top honors for the home team by a commanding thirty seconds - an impressive margin in five kilometers. Anna Bizyukova (RUS) of UVM was second with Jasmine Lyons (UNH, CAN) in third.

Renae Anderson (BOW) placed 8th, Mara McCollor (DAR) 11th, Luci Anderson (UNH) 12th, Libby Tuttle (UVM) 22nd, Alice House (UNH) 25th, and Erin Bianco (CBC) placed 26th.

Renae Anderson on her way to eighth (Credit: Linda Kerker)

In the men’s race, Peter Wolter (MID) took first over Dartmouth first-year Luke Allan (CAN). Scott Schulz (UNH) was third. Roger Anderson (UNH) was 19th, with Will Nemeth (MID) in 22nd, and Foss Kerker (CBC) in 29th.

Day 2, 10k Skate

On Saturday, both men and women raced ten kilometers. This time, it was Jasmine Lyons (CAN) of UNH who took the women’s victory just ahead of Jasmine Drolet (CAN, DAR). Anna Bizyukova (UVM, RUS) placed third. Renae Anderson (BOW) was 7th, with Luci Anderson (UNH) in 9th. Luci said, “I definitely had higher goals than a 9th place college finish, but I went out there and gave it all I had! It was a challenging course and a very warm day.”

Erin Bianco (CBC) placed 10th with Mara McCollor finishing 14th.

For the men, Luke Allan (CAN) won day two of his home carnival for the Big Green by just three seconds. Peter Wolter (MID) finished second with Scott Schulz (UNH) in third again.

Minnesotan Will Nemeth finished a career best 14th just in front of Roger Anderson (UNH) in 15th. Nemeth focused on pacing throughout the two laps of 5k. “Due to the warm weather, the snow was quite slow and soft so keeping good form was quite difficult. Thus, maintaining energy for the end of the race was key.” Nemeth will look forward to racing his home carnival, at Middlebury, next weekend.

Nemeth heading to his top result, focusing on form (Credit: Linda Kerker)

Those races will be February 18th and 19th at the Rikert Nordic Center.

RMISA

RMISA had the weekend off from racing. Next up are the Conference Championships on February 25th and 26th.

About the author...

Luke Brown, a graduate of Minnehaha Academy and Dartmouth College, is a skier and biathlete for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. He enjoys running in the mountains, writing, and eating cereal with whole milk. He lives in Craftsbury, VT.