CCSA Skiers Get Off to a Cold and Speedy Start at Arien’s Invite

FasterSkierJanuary 22, 2025

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By: Francesca Kitch

UW Green Bay’s CCSA invite took place this past weekend at Ariens Nordic Center in Brillion, Wisconsin. It was a cold weekend with race delays on Sunday due to the temperatures dipping below the CCSA regulation of 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the cold weather, however, Ariens lacked natural snow. Thus, the course for the weekend was a 3km “ribbon of man-made snow,” as Green Bay head coach Sam Myers described it. 

Yet the snow was quite fast and in combination with the flat terrain, the majority of the men’s field and some of the women opted to double pole the individual start 15 km classic race on Saturday.

 

Victoria Dybwad double poling in Saturday’s women’s 15km classic race. (Photo: Tryg Solberg)

Men’s winner Leevi Tarjanne (College of St. Scholastica) was included in this group. “I know I am a strong double poler which made me confident of this choice,” said Tarjanne. “Still I have tons of work to do to reach my full potential. I am extremely motivated to train more and harder than ever before and am ambitious for better results.” NMU’s Luke Fricker and Kristoffer Alm Karsrud finished 2nd and 3rd in the men’s race and with Victoria Dybwad and Henriette Nilssen finishing 1st and second in the women’s race, NMU returned home with 4 individual podiums. 

Women’s U20 Podium from Saturday’s classic race. Left to right: Erica Kazin, Lillian Franzen, Liesl Cope-Schaeffer. (Photo: Sam Myers)

The four top skiers from NMU worked together on Sunday to achieve victory in the mixed 4x6km Skate Relay. “It ended up being an incredibly close race. As the first leg, it was so exciting to kick things off and then cheer on the rest of my teammates,” Nilssen said. NMU head coach Andy Keller chimed in that it “was fun to take home the team relay title and have some really good results in the individual race.” Keller believes that these performances will set the team “up for success for the rest of the season and NCAA qualification.” However, going into the weekend Keller wasn’t sure how it would go with key individuals sick from travel and the stress of racing in Alaska. Michigan Tech rounded off the relay podium with their 1st and 2nd teams finishing 2nd and 3rd. 

Sunday’s relay podium. (Photo: Sam Myers)

Tarjanne, the first year skier from Finland, was also impressed by the atmosphere of the race weekend. “It’s awesome that even though Nordic skiing is an individual sport, pushing together as a team brings the best results, and most importantly, makes it even much more fun. I’m looking forward to many more races to come here in the U.S.” During Sunday’s relay, parents and Green Bay student spectators lined Spectator Hill to cheer on their athletes and friends. “It was awesome to see the team camaraderie from everyone,” said Myers. “Since we only have five Universities in the CCSA, everyone is really close and hanging out with each other.”

After a fun start to the season, the Midwesterners will race again in two weeks at the CSS Invite. 

Sunday’s relay podium. (Photo: Sam Myers)

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