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Northern Michigan University

With Dreams Chased and Achieved, Adam Martin Retires from Professional Skiing

Adam Martin’s skiing has always tended to be best described in conjunctions rather than disjunctions. He could do this and he would do that. Or, that’s always how his mentors looked at it. My most distinct memory of Martin is from a CXC (Central Cross Country Skiing) camp about a decade ago when Sten Fjeldheim, then Martin’s coach at Northern Michigan University (NMU), gathered a group of us J2s (U16) around in the lobby of...

Constant Nordic Motion : Sten Fjeldheim Retires

  Sten Fjeldheim, the cross-country ski coach at Northern Michigan University announced his retirement on March 30th. He coached and mentored at the school for 35 years. This piece from The Mining Journal speaks to Fjeldheim’s legacy and the many accolades NMU skiers achieved under his tutelage. Below are thoughts about Fjeldheim from former NMU skier, U.S. Ski Team athlete and Head Coach, Peter Vordenberg. According to a NMU press release, Fjeldheim had this to say...

Quick Hit Athlete Check-Ins from Under 23 Worlds: Ian Torchia

  Cycling back before you know it — it’s the International Ski Federation (FIS) 2019 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Lahti, Finland which gets rolling with a U20 classic sprint this Sunday. In our quest to check in with some North American athletes in Finland, we emailed a list of quick hit questions. Up first, twenty-two-year-old Ian Torchia who skis for both Northern Michigan University and the U.S. Ski Team Development Team. Torchia participated at World Juniors...

Torchia on the Ups, Downs and All He’s Learned Since His First USST Nomination

Two summers ago, with just five miles left of the Marquette Trails Fest 30-mile mountain bike race, all Ian Torchia could hear in his head was the voice of Krystof Kopal, his Northern Michigan University (NMU) teammate, snidely saying, “You drop out again?” Fifteen minutes earlier, Torchia had careened into a tree. After dusting himself off, he remounted his bike, but not before noticing his left wrist was badly injured. For a moment, Torchia considered...

U.S. Ski Team’s 2018/2019 Nominations

last year’s World Cup squad are retirees Andy Newell (the latter of which isn’t exactly retiring), and Rosie Brennan. Simi Hamilton leads the men’s team as its lone A-team member, while Sadie Bjornsen, Sophie Caldwell, Jessie Diggins, and Ida Sargent are all back on the A-team. The B-team includes three returners — Erik Bjornsen, Paddy Caldwell and Scott Patterson — as well as 25-year-old rookie Kevin Bolger, out of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation...

FasterSkier’s Collegiate Skiers of the Year: Katharine Ogden and Ian Torchia

With the 2017/2018 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to outstanding college athletes in cross-country skiing.  *** Katharine Ogden, Dartmouth College Katharine Ogden skiing fast doesn’t exactly surprise anyone....

Under 23 Questions: Zak Ketterson

In an effort to showcase the North Americans who competed at last week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Zak Ketterson, of Northern Michigan University, who represented the U.S. at his first U23 Worlds (after competing at 2016 Junior Worlds in Romania). Last week in Goms, Ketterson...

Under 23 Questions: Nicole Schneider

In an effort to showcase the North Americans who competed at last week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Nicole Schneider, of Northern Michigan University, who represented the U.S. at her first U23 Worlds (after competing at 2016 Junior Worlds in Romania). Last week in Goms, Schneider...

Under 23 Questions: Ian Torchia

In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 21-year-old Ian Torchia, of Northern Michigan University (NMU) and the U.S. Ski Team D-team, who’s representing the U.S. at his first U23 Worlds.  On Friday, 32nd in the 15 k...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — No two races are exactly alike, the saying goes, and there’s a lot of truth to this cliché. But if you step back just a little bit, two race days can start to look awfully similar to one another. For example, for the second time this week, a Hanneman brother won the sprint qualifier, Reese Hanneman won the final, and Alaska Pacific University (APU) put three athletes in the final and two on...

Wednesday Workout: Making a Mountain King with Felicia Gesior

This week’s Wednesday Workout comes from Central Cross Country (CXC) Team member Felicia Gesior. In her second year with CXC, Gesior, 24, is currently working on coordinating the Bergkönig Trail Run, an annual event that began six years ago to raise money for post-collegiate CXC skiers. Race registration and information can be found here. *** Bergkönig. In German, it translates to “mountain king”. In 2011, it translated to the perfect name for the trail run Northern Michigan...

Eliška Albrigtsen (Formerly Hájková) Heading Three CXC Programs

Many mornings, Eliška Hájek Albrigtsen’s husband, Tobias Albrigtsen, has to peel her out of bed. Living the life of an early bird like her spouse is nowhere near the top of her list — partly because she spends most nights prodding her hubby awake as he finishes his work, partly because she is strung out between four jobs of her own. Being in charge of three ski programs while assisting a fourth is not where...

On the eastern side of the Northern Michigan University (NMU) campus, where Fair Avenue and Presque Isle Ave intersect, a righthand turn presents visitors with a view of the Berry Events Center and the school’s 26-year-old Superior Dome — a semi-Star-Trek-like outcropping in an otherwise conventionally secular setting. Between the two recreational buildings sits another building, the college’s Physical Education and Instructional Facility (PEIF). Designed predominantly as a practice venue for basketball players, the complex...

In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 22-year-old Adam Martin, of Northern Michigan University, who’s representing the U.S. at his second U23 Worlds. On Saturday, he raced to 22nd...

17 Questions for 2017: Jake Brown

Welcome to “17 Questions for 2017”, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. *** Jake Brown’s move to Lake Placid wasn’t his first major relocation in recent years: after helping NCAA Division III Saint Olaf win a cross-country running championship, Brown used his final year of ski eligibility to join midwest behemoth Northern Michigan University, where he won the 10 k skate at NCAA...

Hanneman Rides Confidence and Finishing Punch for U.S. Nationals Skate Sprint Title

On the second day of U.S. nationals in Houghton, Mich., Reese Hanneman topped defending champ Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess by 0.35 seconds in the freestyle sprint. After winning the qualifier, Hanneman continued his winning streak straight through to the final. Two Canadians reached the final, Julien Locke and Evan Palmer-Charrette, as did Fredrik Schwenke and Miles Havlick.