HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech Nordic skiing has added nine student-athletes for the 2025-26 season.
"This year we welcome an impressive nine new members to our team for the 2025-26 ski season," Coach
Tom Monahan Smith said. "The class was especially vast as we had 11 student-athletes graduate from our team. The roster will include a total of 17 student-athletes, with our incoming class making up the majority. This will truly be a new team next year, but we are thrilled to have a recruiting class that's not only represented by outstanding national and international student-athletes, but individuals who we believe all possess outstanding personal qualities that are going to make them outstanding teammates and representatives of Michigan Tech."
Noa Kam-Magruder
Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska
High School: Diamond High School
Club Team: Alaska Winter Stars
Intended Major: Pre-med
Athletic Achievements:
2025 U.S. Junior National Championships:
• 10th - Skate Sprint
• 10th - Skate 10km Mass Start
Represented Team USA in the U18 Nordic Nations Championships in Gjoevik, Norway
*Qualified by ranking 2nd U18 in the qualification races at the 2025 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships
2025 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships:
• 1st - Classic Sprint U18
• 3rd - Classic 10km Mass Start U18
• 2nd - Skate Sprint U18
Coach Comments:
Noa is one of the top American prospective student-athletes, having a breakthrough 2024-25 season that saw him win the classic sprint at U.S. Nationals, represent Team USA at the Nordic Nations Championship, and earn multiple All-American finishes at Junior Nationals. Noa is a outstanding all-around skier across race disciplines. He's an incredibly humble and chill guy, and simply loves hanging out with friends and the outdoors. As an Alaskan, he loves everything from hunting Dall sheep, caribou, mountain goat, and fishing for salmon!
Eddie Snider
Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota
High School: Mounds Park Academy
Club Team: Minneapolis Ski Club
Intended Major: Business
Athletic Achievements:
2025 U.S. Junior National Championships:
• 4th - Skate 15km Mass Start U20
• 15th - Classic 7.5km Interval Start U20
• 4th - Team Relay w/Eddie
2025 Minnesota State High School Championships:
• 1st - Classic, 3rd - Overall Pursuit
2024 U.S. Junior National Championships:
• 14th - Classic 10km Mass Start U18
Cross Country/Track:
• 1st - 2023 MSHL State Championships, Cross Country - 15:40 PR, 5,000m
• 4th - 2024 MSHL State Championships, Cross Country
• 1st - 2024 MSHL State Championships, Track - 3200m, 9:31.95
Coach Comments:
Eddie's going to be a dual-sport student-athlete for Michigan Tech on our Nordic Ski Team and Cross Country Team! He's the younger brother of former stand-out student-athlete
Henry Snider. Eddie's an incredible all-around endurance athlete, not only achieving All-American honors at Junior National Championships in skiing, but also showing he's one of the fastest runners in the state having won the MHSL State Championship in both Cross Country & the 3200m in track! Eddie's hard working and good-humored, and those are qualities we're excited to have in a student-athlete of our teams! If you ask him what his greatest achievement is so far he'll likely tell you its taking down his brother's school records!
Markus Bryan Grøthe
Hometown: Vinstra, Norway
High School Club Team: Tormod Skilag
Transfer University: Nord University - Meråker, Norway
Intended Major: Engineering Management
Athletic Achievements:
2025 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships:
• 10th - Skate 10km Interval Start U20/U18
• 8th - Classic Sprint U20/U18
• 12th - Classic 10km Mass Start U20/U18
Other Highlight Results 2024-25 Season:
• 150th - Norwegian National Senior Championships, Skate 10km
• 102nd - 99 FIS in Gaala Classic 10km
• 12th - Brusksvallarna Junior Skate 30km Mass Start
Older:
• 31st - 2023 Norwegian National Junior Championships, Classic 15km
• 5th - 2023 Shoreline Rollerski Race, Classic 15km
• 30th - 2022 Norwegian National Junior Championships, Skate 10km
Coach Comments:
Markus is a dual citizen of Norway & the U.S., and although he's traveled to the U.S. frequently to visit family in Minnesota, this will be his first time living in the U.S.! This past year Markus participated in the sports program at Nord University in Meråker, Norway that like the NCAA allows athletes to study and compete. This last year Markus changed his FIS license to a U.S. one and competed at the U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships in Alaska where he posted multiple top 10 finishes in his bid to qualify for the World Junior Championships. Markus has really stood out to us not only through his participation in multiple U.S. race events like U.S. Nationals, but through his level performances at all levels including U.S. & Norwegian National & international racing!
Helge Ims
Hometown: Evenskjer, Norway
Club Team: Fjell Skilag
High School: Nordnorsk Skilinje
Intended Major: Engineering Management
Athletic Achievements:
• 38th - 2025 Norwegian National Junior Championships, Skate Sprint
• 31st - 2024 Norwegian National Junior Cup, Trondheim, Skate 15km
• Podium finishes every season of career in Norwegian Regional Championships
• Top 10 finishes throughout career in Northern Norwegian Championships
2023 Arctic Winter Games:
• 1st - Skate 5km, and Team Relay
• 2nd - Classic 10km Mass Start, and Classic Sprint
Coach Comments:
Helge comes to us from the far north of Norway, having grown up in a small town near the famous Lofoten Islands, and having studies at a special high school for elite cross country skiers at Nornorsk Skilinje even further north in Storslett, Norway! He's competed in a multitude of national and international competitions, including two Arctic Winter Games in Canada! Helge is passionate about skiing, the outdoors, and his studies, and we know our team and environment is going to be the perfect place for him to thrive as an NCAA student-athlete!
Anders Westanmo
Hometown: Bloomington, Minnesota
High School: Jefferson High School
Club Team: Loppet Nordic Racing
Intended Major: Computer Science
Athletic Achievements:
2025 U.S. Junior National Championships:
• 12th - Classic 7.5km U20
• 12th - Skate 15km U20
• 4th - Team Relay w/Eddie
2025 Minnesota State High School Championships:
• 2nd - Skate & Overall Pursuit
4th - 2024 MSHL State Championships
2022 U.S. Junior National Championships, 11th in Classic 5km U16
Coaches Comments:
Anders has already been an outstanding student-and-athlete through his high school career, maintaining perfect grades and competing for his school in the First Robotics Challenge and First Tech Challenge team's, all while performing as one of the top skiers in the region and having his best national competition season his senior year! As a Minnesotan growing up in the cities he's looking forward to having trails right on campus with natural snow! Anders has impressed us through the years with his balanced and committed approach to his athletic and academic endeavors, and his professionalism and respectful demeanor that is going to make him a great teammate with our Nordic Huskies!
Henry Campbell
Hometown: Superior, Wisconsin
Intended Major: Master's Engineering Management
Athletic Achievements:
• 2nd - 2025 Arrowhead 135 mile ski race
• 14th - 2025 CCSA Conference Champs, Skate 20km
NorthShore Inline Marathon rollerski race
• 3rd - 2023, 5th - 2024
42nd - 2024 American Birkebeiner Skate
46th - 2025 American Birkebeiner Skate
Coach Comments:
Henry has an incredible non-traditional pathway that's led him to our team this season! He studied at MTU for 4 years through his undergraduate degree, but never competed for our team during that time. Henry never really got into competitive sport, instead he's competed in an insurmountable number of insane endurance and ultra endurance races, like the Arrowhead 135 mile ski race, and proven he not only has incredible capacity as an endurance athlete, but he's also fast! Henry has performed alongside some of the best collegiate athletes in our region in running, rollerksiing, and Nordic skiing races this past season, and we're excited to have him come back to Michigan Tech to pursue his master's degree and compete for our team! Watch out for this guy in the skate mass start races next year!!!
Hannah Smart
Sotkamo, Finland
Club Team: Teho Ski Team Iisalmi
Transfer University: University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland
Intended Major: Master's Business Administration *Tech MBA
Athletic Achievements:
2025 Finnish National Championships:
• 10th - Classic Sprint
• 12th - Classic 20km
Finnish National Junior Championships:
• 17th - Skate Sprint, 2025
• 13th - Skate Sprint, 2021
• 11th - Skate 15km, 2019
• 14th - Skate 10km, 2019
• 10th - Classic Sprint, 2019
Coach Comments:
Hannah is a dual-citizen of Finland & the U.S., and has been coached through the years by alum Christina Mischica who now resides with her family in Finland! Hannah has proved national success, having achieved top results at Finnish national championships through the past 7 seasons! She's excited to come to the U.S. to pursue the Tech MBA, and look to take her skiing to the next level with our team, and we're excited to add another strong international recruit that is going to add so much value to our Women's Team!
Merridy Littell
Anchorage, Alaska
High School: West High School
Club Team: Alaska Pacific University
Intended Major: Space Law & Astrophysics
Athletic Achievements:
2024-25 season:
• 14th - 2025 U.S. Junior National Championships, Classic 7.5km U18
• 3rd - 2025 ASAA State Championships, Classic 5km
Other:
• 20th - 2024 U.S. Junior National Championships, Classic 10km U18
• 1st - 2024 ASAA State Championships, Classic 7.5km & Relay
*Podium finish at State Championships all 4 years of high school
• 8th - 2024 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships, Classic 10km U18
• 10th - 2023 U.S. Junior National Championships, Skate Sprint
Coach Comments:
We're so excited to have two Alaskans joining our team this year, with Merridy like Noa also coming to us from Anchorage! Merridy showed us from her visit that she loves Michigan Tech and our environment, and that means the most to us as we want our student-athletes to love their experience as Nordic Huskies! Her academic interests are truly admirable. She intends to study space law and astrophysics, and that speaks to the unique academic opportunities MTU offers. She has outstanding leadership skills, with the most mature and respectful personality that we're excited to have representing our team. She's proven through her entire high school tenure that she's one of the top skiers in Alaska, and we know she's going to continue to thrive with our incredible Women's Team.
Alex Pundsack
St. Paul, Minnesota
High School: Highland Park Senior High School
Club Team: Minneapolis Ski Club
Intended Major: Pre-Med
Athletic Achievements:
2025 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships:
• 15th - Skate 10km U18
• 17th - Classic 10km U18
• 19th - U18 Nordic Nations Cup rankings
8th - 2025 U.S. Junior National Championships, Team Relay
3rd - 2024 Gitchi Gami Games, Classic Sprint
3rd - 2024 American Birkebeiner Classic Korte
Coach Comments:
We just keep recruiting prospective student-athletes from the Minneapolis Ski Club and that's because they keep producing such amazing skiers! Alex, like our current team and our recruiting class at large has proven to be an outstanding student-and-athlete through her high school career. She's maintained a perfect grade point average throughout high school and is an Individual Academic Gold All-State student. She continues to improve as a skier, having posted multiple career best results in the U.S. Cross Country National Championships this season, as well as an All-American relay finish at Junior Nationals, and has a proven she has a motor, having run a 19:23 5km and finishing 15th at NXR Heartland Regional Championships! She's always smiling, always kind to others, and truly values having fun with her team and with the experience of being a student-athlete, and we're excited to have her continue to grow and have a great experience as a student-athlete with our team!
