Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University men's Nordic ski team began their participation in the SuperTour Finals with a 10 km Individual Start Freestyle race, held in Lake Placid, New York. Among the field of 85 skiers from professional and collegiate backgrounds, four athletes represented NMU.

Luke Fricker was the top performer for the Wildcats, finishing 48th overall with a time of 24:55.0. He was followed by Adrik Kraftson in 54th place at 25:10.2, Kristoffer Karsrud in 56th at 25:17.1, and Jonathan Clarke in 57th at 25:23.2.

None of the NMU skiers secured SuperTour points from this event. Karsrud currently leads his team, ranked 23rd overall with 48 points. Fricker follows as second on the team and ranks 39th overall with 23 points. Kraftson is third on the team and ranks 65th overall with seven points, while Clarke holds fourth on the team and is ranked 74th overall with three points.

The competition took place over a course measuring approximately 4810 meters with significant elevation changes, including a maximum climb of 46 meters and a total climb of 182 meters.

Fricker had a promising start but gradually fell back to finish in his final position. He placed as the 17th fastest among collegiate skiers and was ranked 28th among competitors under age 23.

Kraftson initially recorded the race's 37th fastest time but experienced fluctuations that saw him finish in his final spot, ranking him as the 19th fastest collegiate skier and placing him at number 32 among those under age 23.

Karsrud started strong but maintained an average pace throughout to secure his final standing, closely followed by Clarke who also displayed variable pacing during the race.

John Hagenbuch from Dartmouth Ski Team claimed victory with a time of 21:46.2. Joe Davies from the University of Utah came second at 22:23.7, while Graham Houtsma from BSF Pro Team finished third at 22:30.1.