Dec. 7, 2007
FAIRBANKS, AK- Nearly nine months to the day that Marius Korthauer stood at the podium and received his second bronze medal at the NCAA Championships in March, Alaska will strap back into their skis to kick-off their 2007-08 season with the fourth annual Alaska Nordic Cup competition against Anchorage. The competition begins on Saturday with a 7.5 km mass-start classic race for women (beginning at 11 a.m.), followed by an 11 km mass-start classic race for the men, starting at noon. Sunday will be interval start freestyle sprint races, starting at 11 a.m.
The Nanooks will look to bring the Nordic Cup back to Fairbanks for the second consecutive season after landing the trophy for the first time with a weather-shortened 22-20 victory over the Seawolves last year. This weekend's competition will also be the rubber match for the cup series, which currently sits dead even at one win apiece and one draw. While the Fairbanks/Anchorage rivalry may not have the same volatility in skiing as it does in other sports, the Nanooks still expect stiff competition from their southern neighbors.
"It's going to be tough," Korthauer said. "Anchorage has some good guys. Our goal is, of course, to beat them, but its going to be close. We don't need to think that we can win easily."
"It's a good even rivalry: that what makes it so much fun," said head coach Scott Jerome. "We sort of ski in a vacuum up here for a couple of months. We train, do some local time trials, but we never really see collegiate competition until we leave the state unless we see UAA. They will definitely give us a run for our money, that's for sure."
A stern test this weekend may indeed be exactly what Alaska needs: tough, competitive races that will serve as a launching pad into the rest of the campaign, as the Nanooks begin their national qualifying races immediately after the Nordic Cup. Having sent a full six-person team for the NCAA national championships last season, the Blue and Gold will have their sights set high for 2007-08 as well.
The Men
On the men's side, the Nanooks are looking forward to another great season from two-time All-American Korthauer. The Bonndorf, Germany native has medaled in the NCAA Championships in each of the last two years, including a silver-medal performance in the men's classic race in 2006. Korthauer, now a senior, will be skiing in his final season with in the Blue and Gold, and expects to make the most of it.
"I always have the most pressure on me," Korthauer said. "I like to be the underdog, but when you are on the podium at the NCAA's and everyone is looking at you, that's just how it is. I look around and some other colleges have some good skiers too. It's not going to be easy, but I know the team and I are going to be competitive."
Along with Korthauer, senior Vahur Teppan will likely be among the front-runners for the Blue and Gold as well. In his first season with Alaska last season, Teppan skied his way to six top-ten finishes and three conference wins, including edging teammate Korthauer for a first-place finish in the 15 km classic race at the 2007 Central Regional Championships.
But it is more than just their podium finishes and race times that Korthauer and Teppan have contributed to this Alaska team. Together, the two seniors have set a fine example for the Nanooks' young guns, such as sophomores Ray Sabo and John Parry, to follow.
"I can't ask for a better group of guys as far as leadership goes," said Jerome. "Everyone shows leadership, but Marius and Vahur are the guys that set the tone for the rest of the team."
"What I appreciate about them is that, although we joke and have a good time, they are so professional in how they handle themselves. It sets the example for the rest of the team, how professional they are about their training, their diet, their racing, how they prepare their equipment. That really rubs off on the rest of the team."
Parry in particular has seemed to benefit from his spot on the Nanook team. In his first race last season, the Whitehorse native could manage a time of just 30:34.6 over 10 km: an average of 3:03 per kilometer. In the corresponding race this season, a time trial at the Flint Hills Town Race Series Opener, Parry was the top skier in his class, and finished fourth overall with an impressive time of 21:27.2 over the 7.5 km freestyle race, averaging a time of 2:43 per kilometer.
"Obviously, it was up to John to get the job done, but I don't think John would have made the gains that he did without having been on this type of team," said Jerome. "A lot of the reasons he improved was that he was with a group of guys that were pushing him, and a group that he could look to for technique guidance and training guidance."
Having struck a good balance between bright young talent and experienced senior leadership, Jerome feels that the qualifying spots on the men's side are wide open. "I don't know who is going to make NCAA's," he said. "I kind of have an inkling that since Marius and Vahur made it last year, they will probably make it this year, but I don't know. And even if they do, that third spot is still wide open: I have no idea who it is going to be. Any of these guys can pop a good race, so it could come down to just a few points."
The Women
The upcoming season looks bright for the women's team as well, as Alaska returns two of the three skiers that represented the Nanooks at the NCAA Championships last year: Anna Coulter and Aurelia Korthauer. In only her first season racing with the Nanooks last year, Anna turned in an impressive 13th-place finish in the 5K freestyle at nationals, while Korthauer joined her brother in earning All-American status by grabbing a fifth-place finish at the NCAA 15K classic race.
The Nanooks' third representative at nationals last year, Julia Coulter, has elected to redshirt this season as a means of spreading out the team's pool of talent. "In skiing, you want to spread out your strength over time," Jerome explained. "This is a strategy that a lot of ski coaches take. We are just trying to make sure that we have three strong women each year that are going to be theoretically fighting for a top spot at the national championship, and I think we have that this year."
The emergence of sophomore Elisabeth Habermann is a major reason the Nanooks can afford to be without Julia Coulter this season. After failing to qualify for the NCAA races in her freshman season (2005-06), Habermann beat out over 170 other women to claim a spot on the U.S. World Junior Championship team last year, representing America at the 2007 WJCs in Tarvisio, Italy.
"It was a boost of confidence to get on the team, not so much of a boost once I got over there," Habermann joked. "Some of those girls were so fast: they are amazing. But it was so fun, it was a totally different experience. It was inspiring to know that I could get there and compete in those races. It was skiing on a whole new level."
Now going on their third season training and skiing together, Coulter, Korthauer and Habermann have formed a bond between them: a connection that they feel will benefit them on the course this season. "We know each other's strengths and weaknesses in racing for sure," said Habermann. "I think that helps all of us, especially in a mass-start race, because we know when someone's going to be able to push the pace and things like that. It benefits our training as well, knowing that there someone there always pushing us."
While these three will be among the main threats for the Nanooks, Jerome believes a number of his women could surprise competitors this season, such as senior Krynn Finstad. "Krynn looks really good so far," he said. "It is her senior year and it has been a goal of hers to make the championships, so she is very motivated and focused. I certainly wouldn't count her out."
The Season
Despite the difference between the two teams, the long-term goals Jerome and the Nanooks have set for themselves are strikingly similar. First, reclaim the top spot at the CCSA Championships by defeating Northern Michigan, a skiing powerhouse that blew away the Nanooks (and everyone else) at the regional and national races last season, making history as they swept both the classic and freestyle podiums at the women's NCAA Championships last season.
"We have got to beat Northern Michigan at the regionals," said Jerome. "It's one thing to beat Northern Michigan at the national championships, but that gets buried in the results. So at the CCSA championships, we have to beat Northern. There's just no other way to put it."
"NMU is kind of our arch-rival," Habermann added. "We have a friendly but very competitive relationship with them. I want to see us beat their women's team, which is definitely possible if we all ski well."
Beating the Wildcats would also take Alaska a long way towards achieving their second goal: qualifying a full team for the NCAA Championships again. As the season gets underway, Jerome is confident that his squad is capable of accomplishing this feat. "I can't guarantee that we are going to have six athletes qualify this year, but if we don't, it's because the van went in the ditch and we missed a race," he said. "Otherwise, I just can't see us not having six at the national championships."
If the Nanooks achieve both of these goals, it would mark the first time the school has been able to achieve this unique accomplishment. In 2006, Alaska captured the CCSA title, but were only able to send five skiers to the national championships (Julia Coulter served as an unused alternate). Last season, the Blue and Gold sent a full compliment of skiers to nationals, but failed to win the regional crown.
While Jerome does not know what the season ahead will bring ("Ski races are funny things: you never know what will happen," he admits), he is sure of one thing: he would not trade the roster he and assistant coach Ingrid Olson have built for anything.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of this team," Jerome said. "We have so many different countries represented, but when these guys get together, they race for the Alaska Nanooks. They aren't racing for the U.S. or anything, they race for each other. I couldn't ask for a better group."
