Skater earns American Cup
United States Olympic Education Center speedskater Erin Bartlett is the 2011 American Cup Champion. Bartlett earned the honors after finishing second at the American Cup Final held March 11-13 in Wausau, Wis.
Bartlett (Lakewood, Ohio), a junior at Northern Michigan University, stayed with Morgan Izykowski, a 2010 World Cup team member, throughout the final competition to claim first in the American Cup series.
As the American Cup champion, Bartlett gained an automatic spot on the U.S. National team in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“She was very solid throughout the entire thing. She had a couple slipups, but she always came back strong and skated great,” said co-head coach Tony Goskowicz.
Other USOEC speedskaters competed in the final event of the season. Senior Tamara Frederick (Park Ridge, Ill.) placed fourth; junior Kelsey Schiel (Midland, Mich.) finished 13th; and freshmen Sarah Burg (Alpena, Mich.), Alaina Fiorenza (Wausau, Wis.) and April Albanese (Martins Creek, Pa.) placed eighth, 10th and 14th, respectively.
For the men, senior Levi Kirkpatrick (Hills, Iowa) and sophomore Chris Creveling (Kintersville, Pa.) finished third and fifth overall with point totals of 1,972 and 1,875.
Other USOEC men competing were juniors Barry Winslow (Midland, Mich) and Dan Fiorenza (Wausau, Wis.), who finished 12th and 15th, respectively; freshman Kyle Haun (Milwaukee, Wis.) in 9th; and Marquette Senior High School senior Brett Perry (Midland, Mich.) in 14th..
— NMU Sports Information
Skier receives All-American status
The Northern Michigan University Nordic ski teams finished the season at the Trapp Family Resort in the NCAA Championships on a rainy Friday (March 11). Andy Liebner is an All-American in the classic as he finished eighth in the 20k race.
Martin Banerud finished his career as a Wildcat as he took 33rd place and Erik Soderman was 39th. The men’s team finished ninth in the event.
Marie Soderman finished 13th for the women in the 15k classic race. Christina Turman was 26th and Monica Markvardsen was 32nd. It was Turman’s last race for NMU. The women’s team finished eighth in the event.
— NMU Sports Information
Swimmer qualifies for another round of NCAA Championships
Kelli Vander Baan of the Northern Michigan University swimming and diving team advanced to the preliminary round of both the one-and-three-meter diving events at NCAA Championships.
On Thursday, March 10, Vander Baan finished 13th in the one meter dive with a score of 379.55. She competed in the three meter event on Saturday, March 12, and came in 11th with a score of 378.25.
Vander Baan is a senior captain from Highland, Mich. She qualified for Nationals all four years and dove for NMU for the final time on Saturday.
— NMU Sports Information
