By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

RUMFORD, Maine (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay men's and women's Nordic ski teams continued their participation at the U.S. Cross Country Championships on Friday in the classical races at Black Mountain, with a pair of freshmen turning in strong performances in the junior events.

In the junior men's 10K classic, freshman Matt Nichols (Wausau, Wis.) raced to a 55th-place finish in a tough field of 100 competitors. His time of 30:12.4 was just 2:35 off the winning time. On the women's side, freshman Hanne Guthrie (Chanhassen, Minn.) had a good showing in the junior 5K classic, placing 56th in 16:15.8 - 1:40 off the lead pack.

Leading the way for the Phoenix men in the 30K classical event was sophomore Eddie Gurney (Brookfield, Wis.), who placed 50th with a time of 1:35:58.1. Sophomore Wayne Clark (New Paltz, N.Y.) placed 76th (1:51:58.3).

Phoenix sophomore Kailey Mucha (Soldotna, Alaska) - skiing unattached from the team - turned in a solid finish in the women's 20K classic, placing 30th (1:11:54.4) out of 53 competitors.

To view complete results from the U.S. Cross Country Championships, click here.

After a day off from competition on Saturday, the Green Bay skiers will wrap up the U.S. Nationals with the classic sprint races on Sunday before heading to Duluth, Minn., for the second NCAA qualifier of the season - the Hilltop Invitational on Jan. 14-15.

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