MTU Skier finishes in second place

 

Courtesy of MTU Athletics

BIWABIK, Minn. – Lynn Duijndam highlighted a weekend of racing at Giants Ridge with a runner-up finish in the women’s 15.7-kilometer freestyle race at the St. Scholastica Invitational Sunday (Jan. 27). The previous day she finished 17th (20:43) in the 5.8-kilometer classic race.

“Lynn had a really good freestyle race on Sunday which was great for her,” said head coach Joe Haggenmiller.

On Saturday, Tech had two men finish in the top-10 of the 11.6-kilometer classic race. Luke Gesior was the top finisher for the Huskies finishing fifth (34:23), and Thomas Kendrick was eighth (35:11).

“Luke had a good race and it was pretty exciting to see Thomas Kendrick have the best race of his career,” said Haggenmiller.

Other finishes for the men included: Matt Dugan 11th (35:35), Kyle Hanson 15th (36:04), Jay Woodbeck 16th (36:19) and Matt Wong 17th (36:26).

Tech had four women finish in the top-20 of the 5.8-kilometer classic race. Sarah Daniels was 11th (20:20) followed closely by Deedra Irwin (20:32) who finished 13th. Duijndam was 17th (20:43) and Rachel Mason was 20th (21:02). Marissa Yovetich was 26th (21:58).

In addition to Duijndam’s runner-up finish Sunday in the 15.7-freestyle, Sarah Daniels also  finished in the top-10 with a seventh place finish in 50:38.

Deedra Irwin and Rachel Mason worked together to finish 12th (52:07) and 13th (52:10). Marissa Yovetich was 22nd (55:00).

Tech’s top-three men in the 20.5-kilometer freestyle race finished within one minute of each other. Kyle Hanson skied his best race of the year to finish ninth (55:56), Jay Woodbeck was 10th (55:59) and Luke Gesior was 12th (56:38). Sam Holmes was 26th (59:12) and Thomas Kendrick was 29th (59:33).

“Overall we competed hard, and they gave it everything they had,” said Haggenmiller. “We are looking pretty competitive as we get ready for the conference championships.”

Redshirt Alice Flanders finished third in the classic race (49:55) and seventh in the freestyle race (20:08).

Tech finished tied for second in the women’s team results and the men were third.

The Nordic ski team will compete at the Central Collegiate Ski Association Sprint and Relay Championships in Ishpeming, Mich., on Feb. 2-3.