NMU's Cartwright Qualifies for Freestyle Final
(Courtesy of NMU Athletics)
RUMFORD, Maine – The Northern Michigan men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams opened the 2012 U.S. Cross Country National Championships on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at Historic Black Mountain.
Both teams competed in the freestyle qualifying sprint races.
In the men’s freestyle 1.6k sprint event, sophomore George Cartwright was the highest finishing Wildcat, placing 23rd with a time of 3:15.04. Cartwright also qualified for the men’s 15k freestyle final on Thursday, Jan. 5. Freshman Kjell-Chris Markset also finished 48th with a time of 3:18.81.
In the women’s freestyle 1.4k sprint, junior Monica Markvardsen finished 35th with a time of 3:17.67. Junior Libby Ellis finished 68th with a time of 3:24.35.
“George skied well in the sprint and advanced and Monica just missed qualifying,” head coach Sten Fjeldheim said. “We don’t have sprint events in the NCAA skiing format so we don’t put as much focus on the sprint events, instead using them as a tune up for the distance races.”
NMU alumnus Maria Stuber finished fourth in the women’s 1.4k freestyle sprint event.