Some 23 RMN Athletes were competing at the races in Houghton, which were held on plentiful snow at the Michigan Tech Trail System between Jan 1^st and 6^th.  Although the week did not produce the kind of results that many of us were hoping for, there were also some real highlights for the RMN Crew.

The week kicked off with the distance Freestyle races – 5 km for women and 10 km for men. Wins went to the Russian Slayer, Ivan Babikov and to Biathlete Caitlin Compton. Big news for us in Colorado was that Aspen skier (now living in Sun Valley, ID) Noah Hoffman skied to an outstanding 8^th place finish, just 30 seconds behind Kris Freeman in 3^rd. He was the top junior and the his result was the best junior men’s mark in recent memory at US Nationals.  Other RMN Skiers had good days as well, including Simi Hamilton in 24^th (3^rd in the Under 23 group) Scott Lacy, Rogan Brown, Miles Havlick, Ian Mallams, Austin Ross, Hannah Hausman, Paige Elliott and Mary Rose.

The second day of racing saw the 10/15 km Classic races. Ivan Babikov continued his dominance, while recent World Cup sprint winner Kikkan Randal  taking the win for the women, showing that she’s starting to develop in to an all-around threat.  RMN had an up-and-down day, with the ups provided by Hoffman in 17^th, Glenn Randal in 22^nd, Simi Hamilton, Leif Nordegren (6^th junior), Paige Elliott and Karlie Moore.

The sprint days always bring surprises and excitement, and as high altitude athletes, it’s often been a real challenge for RMN skiers. This year, we did have some real bright spots, with the real standout being Simi Hamilton skiing to an outstanding 4 place finish (3^rd American and US Championship bronze medalist). Go Simi! Mark Iverson skied to a solid 18^th place, after narrowly missing a fall at the bottom of the course. Sarah MacCarthy skied to a solid 6^th in the U23 rounds, finishing last in the A-Finals as the result of a fall. Miles Havlick had a good day, finishing first in the Junior B-Finals for a Junior 7^th place.

The final day of the Championships was the Team Sprint event. Many RMN Skiers had headed home by this point, but those that stuck around had solid results, including a 7^th place for Mark Iverson (with teammate Eli Enman) and a 10^th place for Vail’s Kevin Hochtl (with teammate Zach Simons).

A few other exciting notes were that Simi Hamilton qualified to represent the US at the U23 World Championships in Poland, Scott Lacy qualified for the J1 Scandinavian Series in Estonia and Ian (now Intermountain) and Miles Havlick prequalified for JO’s in Anchorage, AK.

Thanks to all for a fun week – Go RMN!