Oct. 20, 2007
Men's Results
Women's Results
NAMPA, ID- The Alaska Nanooks men's cross country team soared to an impressive fifth-place finish at Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship at Northwest Nazarene University, giving the team their best-ever finish in the GNAC, and highest conference position since 1997, when they came in third in the PacWest.
The top-five finish marks a significant achievement for a team that finished dead last in the conference just two seasons ago. The Nanook runners may have surprised even themselves: the team more than met the target of seventh place they had set prior to the meet.
"I am really proud of them today," said head coach Scott Jerome. "The guys were so excited when they saw the results after the race. It was really good to see: it was a true team effort and they really earned it."
Finnish exchange student Jani Tulppo, a vital new addition for the Blue and Gold this season, landed a team-best 15th place finish, sprinting past two Alaska Anchorage runners (including defending champion David Kiplagat) in the final 100 meters. Senior Marius Korthauer came in less than 30 seconds behind Tulppo, crossing the line in 27th place in his final conference race.
"Marius had the race of his life today," beamed Jerome afterwards. "That was the best cross country race I have ever seen him run."
All told, five Nanook runners finished in the top half of the field, with freshman Zach McGill coming in 32nd, and seniors Chris Eversman and Vahur Teppan coming in 38th and 41st place, respectively.
Alaska finished with 151 points, just behind Central Washington (141 points) and ahead of Seattle (163 points). Defending champions Western Washington once again took home the team title, ending the day with just 35 points.
The men's finish brightened up a tough day for the Alaska women, who could only manage a ninth-place finish after scoring a place in the top five themselves last season.
The performance of the Coulter twins was again a highlight for the Nanooks, as both found a spot in the overall top 20. Anna Coulter, Alaska's fastest runner in every race this season, matched Tulppo's performance with a 15th place finish, while sister Julia finished in 20th place.
From there, however, Alaska's runners struggled to keep pace, and the team could not get their other finishers high enough to make an impact on the final standings. Riikka Kemppainen was the team's third-best runner, coming in 49th overall, while Elisabeth Habermann (55th) and Amber Drumm (59th) rounded out the team's top five.
"We just had an off day," said Jerome. "Sometimes it goes that way: that's just how cross country is."
On the women's side, Seattle Pacific once again repeated as conference champions, finishing with just 24 points after landing the event's top two runners. The Nanooks finished with 192 points, ahead of Montana State Billings with 233 points, and just missed nipping Saint Martin's (188 points) for eighth place.
Alaska cross country season concludes on Nov. 3 as they take five men and five women to the NCAA West Regional meet, which will also be held at Nampa, Idaho.
