Jan. 22, 2007
By MATIAS SAARI, Staff Writer
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner/CCSA SID
The Alaska Nanooks women appear to have a good problem on their skis.
Bouyed by four finishes among the top 13 at Sunday's 10-kilometer freestyle race at Mount Itasca in Coleraine, Minn., the quartet of Aurelia Korthauer (sixth), Anna Coulter (10th), Julia Coulter (12th) and Paula Daabach (13th) are all in position to earn spots at March's NCAA Skiing Championships.
The problem is, only three can qualify per school.
Korthauer, the top collegian in Saturday's classic race and second fastest
on Sunday at the NorAm SuperTour race attended by some of America's elite
skiers, is a lock for NCAAs. That leaves her three teammates to battle for
two of the 10 slots awarded to skiers from the Central Collegiate Ski
Association.
"I haven't done the qualifying points yet, but it's looking good on the women's side to send three," Alaska coach Scott Jerome said from Grand Rapids, Minn. "But I'm not sure what three it will be."
Korthauer started conservatively on Sunday and was in 13th place after the
first of four 2.5K loops.
"She's not a fast starter," said Jerome. "She just steadily kept getting faster relative to the field."
Korthauer moved all the way up to sixth, 15 seconds off the podium and 1:17 behind race winner Caitlin Compton of CXC.
Fairbanks' Christina Gillis, a freshman skiing for Northern Michigan University, took 18th. Krynn Finstad of the Nanooks had her best college result, placing 31st.
For the men's 15K, Nanook Marius Korthauer missed the podium by less than
five seconds in 36:13 but was the top collegian and fifth overall. Lars
Flora of Anchorage and the Subaru Factory Team won for the second straight
day in 35:46.
The Nanooks dropped off thereafter, as Estonian Vahur Teppan -- who tied with Korthauer for third place Saturday -- took 29th overall. Henri Soom was 42nd and Anders Gillis 47th.
"Vahur just didn't have it today," said Jerome. "He ended up eighth within
the college skiers, which is decent, but certainly he has the ability to be higher than that."
The 15-second interval start and the necessity to ski six loops created some hectic racing.
"A large field of athletes and a small course because they don't have a lot of snow up here made for a crowded day," said Jerome.
The Nanooks also slipped from the top spot among the 12 CCSA teams to
runner-up. The Nanooks led Northern Michigan University by five points after Saturday but were overtaken on Sunday by the Wildcats, who finished with 354 points to 352 for the Nanooks.
"We're more interested in qualifying skiers for the national championships, but bragging rights are certainly important," said Jerome when he learned of the standings reversal. "The big one is the (CCSA) regional championships (Feb. 17-18 in Marquette, Mich.). We need to ski better than we did today if we are going to win that."
Today the Nanooks head to Hayward, Wis., where they will compete in another set of SuperTour races next weekend to wrap up their month-long road trip.
