The Wildcat Nordic ski team traveled just around the corner to Ishpeming to compete in their NCAA regional events. The women’s team took home gold and bronze, while the men’s team secured gold and silver.

Luke Fricker won gold, followed by Kristoffer Karsrud with silver. Fricker had the fastest final two laps of anyone on the slopes, with times of 6:41.0 and 7:43.4. Karsrud had the fastest first lap of the day, with a lap time of 6:35.1. The race was a 7.5K event.

On the women’s side, Merle Richter spent most of her race in fifth place, before overtaking Marie Wangen of Michigan Tech to claim the first-place spot. Victoria Dybwad took home the third-place spot. This race was the 2.5K event.

The following day, the team was back on the slopes with a strong desire to win more gold. Dybwad dominated the slopes, finishing 30 seconds ahead of the field. This was the only podium finish for the Wildcat women, with Jordan Parent placing seventh (1:01:07.9) and Richter taking home eighth place with a time of 1:01:35.5. Pearl Harvey placed 16th, while Henriette Nilssen and Ella Niznik did not start (DNS).

Fricker remained neck and neck on the slopes with his competitors from Michigan Tech all day on Sunday, but he was able to pull ahead and secure his second gold of the weekend. Karsrud placed sixth, and his fellow Wildcat, Jonathan Clarke, came in seventh place, finishing just 0.4 seconds apart. Hendrik Peterson placed 21st, Mathias Haugen came in 29th, and Adrik Kraftson did not start.

The team travels to Hanover, New Hampshire, for the NCAA Ski Championships, where they will compete in the same events.