Great Lakes Wire

The NMU men's alpine team concluded the first day of the USCSA National Championship with notable performances from two skiers who were named All-Americans. Kyan Hopke led the Wildcats by finishing fifth, earning a first-team All-America honor. He recorded the eighth fastest time in his first run and fourth fastest in his second, culminating in a combined time of 2:05.77.

Aaron Grzelak also received an All-America honor by finishing 11th overall. He was 14th after his first run but improved to post the 11th-fastest second run, ending with a total time of 2:07.87.

Reed Heathman completed his runs with a combined time of 2:18.19, placing him in 38th position.

In challenging conditions during the morning session at Mt. Bachelor, both Andrew Truman and Anthony Petkov did not finish their runs due to falls, contributing to a total of 39 DNFs for that session.

The Wildcats finished third in team scoring with a collective time of 6:31.83, behind Rocky Mountain College and Babson College.

The competition continues with the women's slalom event scheduled for tomorrow morning at 12:30 ET.

During the morning session's first run, skiers faced heavy snowfall and low visibility. Grzelak initially posted a competitive time but slid down to 14th place by the end of the run. Hopke managed a strong performance despite similar conditions, securing an eighth-place position after all skiers had completed their runs.

Truman and Petkov were among those who could not complete their runs due to falls on the course under whiteout conditions.

Heathman managed to finish his first run in difficult weather conditions, placing him in 51st position going into the afternoon session.

In the afternoon's second run, Grzelak posted one of the top times which helped him secure an overall ranking of 11th place and earn second-team All-America honors. Hopke continued his strong performance by achieving one of the fastest times during this session as well, maintaining his position within the top five and earning first-team All-America recognition once final results were tallied.

Heathman finished his second run ranked at number 38 overall based on combined times from both sessions.