HOUGHTON, M.I. – Bill Harmeyer earned a podium finish in the Skate Sprint leading a group of Catamounts competing this past week at the 2020 L.L. Bean U.S. Cross Country Championships hosted by Michigan Tech in Houghton, Michigan.
 
Harmeyer finished third overall in the Freestyle Sprint on Thursday, January 2 with a time of 3:07.99. He finished .03 seconds behind Northern Michigan's Kjetil Baanerud. Teammates Ben Ogden and Karl Schulz finished back-to-back in 11th and 12th. On the women's side Lina Sutro was the Catamounts top finisher coming in 17th. Former Catamounts Alayna Sonnesyn '18 (2nd, 3:36.81) and Caitlin Patterson '12 (3rd, 3:37.32) earned spots on the podium.
 
On Friday Sutro led the Catamounts effort in the 10k Freestyle. She placed fifth overall, and as the top collegian, with a time of 28:19.9. Once again Patterson and Sonnesyn earned top-three placement with Patterson taking second this time. In the men's 15k Freestyle Ben Ogden and Finn O'Connell earned top-15 finishes. Ogden placed 12th in a time of 38:04.9. He was the fourth finisher in the U-20 category. O'Connell finished 15th with a mark of 38:15.4.
 
In Sunday's longer classic races Sutro and O'Connell were the top Catamount finishers. In the 20k Classic Sutro finished 11th overall with a time of 1:07:15.0. Patterson finished second overall in the race. In the 30k Classic O'Connell placed 15th with a mark of 1:21.12.9.
 
The Nordic team will begin the EISA Carnival season on Friday, January 17 on day one of the Harvard Carnival. The first day of competition from the Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire will be the 5k/10k Skate. The entire Harvard Carnival, alpine and Nordic, will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
Idletyme is the presenting sponsor of the 2020 skiing season.