Presented by the National Nordic Foundation, this event brings together the top racers from across the country, including some who have competed internationally during the winter.

There will be four races as it serves as the decisive competition for overall SuperTour standings. The top-ranked athletes secure a spot in Period 1 of the 2025-26 World Cup. Additionally, this year’s SuperTour Finals provide an opportunity for racers to experience Lake Placid’s trails ahead of the 2026 World Cup Finals.

There will be a men’s 10-kilometer individual start freestyle race today. Friday afternoon starts with women’s and men’s 1.3K individual sprint qualification freestyle races, followed by the championship sprint final.

On Saturday, the national championship mixed relay 4-by-5K classic and freestyle races go off in the morning, while on Sunday morning, the men’s national championship 40K mass start classic and junior men’s 15K races will be held.

Northern Michigan University’s Victoria Dybwad, right, and the College of St. Scholastica's Greta Leitheiser lead the NCAA Central Regional Championships women’s 20-kilometer freestyle mass start race held Feb. 23 at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Kristoffer Karsrud enters Lake Placid as the highest-ranked Northern men’s skier, 11th among collegians and 22nd overall with 48 points, all from sprint scoring in competition at the U.S. National Championships in Alaska earlier in the season.

Teammate Luke Fricker is 21st among college skiers and 38th overall with 23 points, the vast majority coming in sprints and four points in distance events.

And Northern’s Adrik Kraftson and Jonathan Clarke round out the NMU men’s presence in SuperTour points. Kraftson is 61st with seven points and Clarke 69th with three.

For the NMU women’s team, Henriette Nilssen leads her squad in the SuperTour with 34 points, good for 32nd overall and 19th among collegians, while teammate Pearl Harvey is 63rd with five points and Jordan Parent 75th with one point.

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Northern Michigan University’s Henriette Nilssen skis during a nordic race earlier this winter. (Photo courtesy NMU)

CCSA Skiers of the Year

Both NMU nordic teams produced the Central Collegiate Ski Association’s top skiers — Victoria Dybwad won the CCSA Female Skier of the Year and Kraftson the CCSA Male Skier of the Year.

Scoring for the award was based on each skier’s two best conference results in freestyle and classic races, dropping the lowest of three results.

Dybwad amassed 80 points in her two best freestyle finishes and 77 points in her two best classic finishes for 157 points in the regular season and conference championships, ahead of teammate Henriette Nilssen in second with 146 and Greta Hansen of Michigan Tech in third with 136.

Dybwad’s 80 freestyle points came from 40 points with a silver medal in the 20K mass start at the CCSA Championships and 40 points with a gold medal in the College of St. Scholastica Invitational. Her 77 classic points came from 40 points thanks to a win at the Ariens CCSA Invite and 37 points for silver at the College of St. Scholastica Invite.

Northern Michigan University’s Kristoffer Karsrud leads the Wildcat men in SuperTour points with 48 as he skis in a meet earlier in the winter. (Photo courtesy NMU)

Kraftson jumped up the leaderboard and finished first with 139 overall points thanks to the CCSA Championships, which included 68 freestyle and 71 classic points, edging out by a single point both teammate Luke Fricker and Michigan Tech’s Colin Freed, each with 138 in second.

Kraftson’s 68 freestyle points came from a pair of third-place finishes, each at the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships and the College of St. Scholastica CCSA Invite for 34 points apiece. Classic scoring is where Kraftson made up ground, claiming 31 points from a pair of fourth-place finishes before shooting up the leaderboard thanks to winning gold at the CCSA Championships for 40 points.

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Men at the NCAA finals

Kraftson had Northern’s top finishes at the NCAA Championships held in Hanover, New Hampshire, from March 5-8.

Northern Michigan University’s Adrik Kraftson skis a classic race during the nordic season this winter. (Photo courtesy NMU)

He led the Wildcats on Day 1 in the 7.5K men’s classic in 23 minutes, 13.1 seconds to finish 23rd, while Karsrud was 28th in 23:44.4 and Fricker 37th in 25:11.1.

Tech’s Colin Freed was the fastest CCSA skier, finishing 20th overall in 23:04.4, less than 10 seconds ahead of Kraftson, who was the No. 2 CCSA athlete with Karsrud third in the conference.

John Hagenbuch of meet host Dartmouth won in 20:52.8, about 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Finn Sweet of Vermont.

On Day 2, Kraftson led an NMU pack in the men’s 20K mass start, finishing 36th in 50:50.6 as Karsrud was next in 37th in 51:11.8 and Fricker right after that in 38th in 52:35.9.

Tech’s Tyrj Solberg topped CCSA skiers, 20th overall in 47:44.1, while Joe Davies of Utah was the overall winner in 43:33.9.

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Women at the NCAA finals

With Nilssen leading the way, she and Dybwad finished close together at the pair of NCAA Championships races in New Hampshire.

On Day 1, Nilssen was 30th in the 7.5K women’s classic in 26:37.3, while Dybwad came in right after her in 31st in 26:39.2.

Greta

Leitheiser of St. Scholastica led the CCSA, finishing 24th in 26:09.7, while Nilssen was third in the conference and Dybwad fourth. Race winner was Erica Laven of Utah in 23:43.3, about 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Annie McColgan of Vermont.

Then on Day 2 in the 20K mass start, Nilssen was 24th in 55:13.3 and Dybwad 26th in 55:33.6.

Nilssen was also the top CCSA finisher, followed by MTU’s Greta Hansen in 25th overall in 55:26.6 and Dybwad third.

Kendall Kramer of Alaska won in 50:14.2, about 35 seconds ahead of Laven.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases reviewing the meets. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.