BEND, OR – The Northern Michigan University (NMU) men’s alpine ski team had a strong showing on the first day of the USCSA National Championships, with two skiers earning All-America honors in the giant slalom.
Kyan Hopke led the way, finishing in fifth place and securing a first-team All-America spot. Hopke recorded the eighth-fastest time in the first run and the fourth-fastest in the second, posting a combined time of 2:05.77 to claim the final first-team position.
Aaron Grzelak also earned an All-America honor, finishing 11th overall. After being in 14th place following the first run, Grzelak improved with the 11th-fastest second run, finishing with a total time of 2:07.87.
Reed Heathman rounded out the Wildcats’ competitors, finishing 38th with a combined time of 2:18.19.
The team faced challenges in the morning session, as both Andrew Truman and Anthony Petkov were unable to finish their runs, joining 39 other skiers who did not complete the course.
In team scoring, NMU finished third with a total time of 6:31.83. Rocky Mountain College took first with 6:15.17, followed by Babson College at 6:17.66. Full results are available on the official website.
The competition continues with the women’s slalom tomorrow, starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Morning Session – First Run
Skiers battled difficult conditions at Mount Bachelor during the morning session. The weather had changed from the previous day, bringing heavy snow, strong winds, and fog, which made visibility nearly impossible and created a challenging course.
Grzelak was the sixth skier to take on the course. Despite catching some air on a turn and facing difficult conditions, he managed to recover and finish with a time of 1:03.65, initially ranking fourth before dropping to 14th by the end of the first run.
Hopke followed as the 35th skier. In the middle of the whiteout, he made it down safely, posting a time of 1:02.72, which was the sixth-fastest at the time, although he finished the first run in 8th place.
Truman, starting 65th, was the next Wildcat to race. With several skiers before him failing to finish, Truman also went down and did not complete the course.
Petkov, starting 95th, faced the same whiteout conditions as the others. He, too, was unable to finish, making it four Wildcats in total who did not complete the first run.
The final NMU skier, Heathman, started 121st. Despite the challenging weather, he made sure to finish the run, posting a time of 1:09.08 and sitting in 51st place at the end of the first run.
