April 19, 2007
FAIRBANKS, AK -Alaska Nanooks head cross country coach Scott Jerome announced that Rachel Fridye (pronounced Friday) of Spokane, Washington has signed a National Letter of Intent to run for the women's team this fall.
"Rachel is the type of person that any coach hopes to sign," said Jerome. "She has a great attitude and the athletic tools necessary to be successful. She has the total package."
A senior at University High School in Spokane, Fridye participated on the Titans' varsity cross country and track teams all four years. Last fall she was recognized with the Captain's and Coach's Awards for the cross country team. As a junior in the fall of 2005, Fridye was named the cross country team's Most Improved runner.
Her best prep career marks in cross country include a third-place finish for ages 16-19 in a 5K race with a time of 19:10 and a 7.43 mile race in 53:52.
While the Nanooks don't sponsor a track team, Jerome noted that Fridye was okay with just dedicating her athleticism strictly to cross country running.
"Rachel enjoys distance running and cross country and indicated that she would not miss track if she were to attend Alaska," he said.
While Fridye is foregoing her career in track, she had gained valuable experience from it recently. She ran her personal best two-mile time at the 2007 Paseo Invitational in 11:53.86. It was a 27-second improvement from her previous personal record of 12:21.08, which she had achieved two days earlier at a league meet.
"Rachel's times in both cross country and track indicate that she will be a solid runner for Alaska in both the GNAC and NCAA Western region," said Jerome.
Fridye signing is a positive addition for the Nanooks, who he says are setting their sights on the women's GNAC Championship in 2010. He feels she will help set the standard for recruits who follow in the coming years and will help to push the current Nanooks next season.
"Rachel has the attitude, work ethic, and tools to be a very good runner for the Alaska Nanooks," he said. "She could very well be our number two or three runner in the fall. College running is much different than high school. It will take some time for her to adjust, but I expect by the conference championship in October that she will be running number two for us behind Aurelia (Korthauer)."
A sophomore this season, Korthauer (Bonndorf, Germany) was the Nanooks' highest finisher on the women's side at the GNAC Championships, taking 14th in the 6k race with a time of 22:52.
"Rachel will undoubtedly be a leader on our team in the coming years," Jerome said. "She will set the tone and the standard for all recruits that follow. Her team, the one that she helps to build, may very well become the strongest in Alaska (cross country) history."
