FAIRBANKS, AK – Alaska Nanooks skiing head coach
Scott Jerome announced that two-time All-American Lex Treinen of Anchorage, Alaska and the University of Alaska Anchorage will transfer to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the fall and ski for the Blue and Gold next season. He will enter UAF as a junior and has two seasons of NCAA eligibility remaining.
Treinen, who missed half of his sophomore season due to an iron deficiency, came back strong and closed out the year at UAA, earning his second career All-America honor by placing ninth in the men's 20K freestyle event in 49:41.6 at the 2010 NCAA Skiing Championships. His effort helped UAA to a seventh place finish at the event. Other accomplishments during the 2009-10 campaign include making the 2010 National Ski Coaches Association All-Academic team.
"Lex is a very strong skier,” said Jerome. “With two NCAA Championships under his belt already, where he skied very well as a true freshman and sophomore, Lex adds another layer of depth to our program. He has already proved that he can be a top skier in the NCAA.”
A 2008 graduate of West Anchorage High School, he produced a remarkable rookie season with the Seawolves, joining UAA's All-American list by finishing runner-up in freestyle at NCAA Championships. He also recorded a 16th-place finish in classical and helped UAA to its best finish ever at NCAA- 4th place. On the season he produced four top-10 finishes and was named to National Ski Coaches Association All-American Team after finishing the season ranked 26th in RMISA's Nordic standings. He was also one of three Seawolves selected as Most Inspirational at end-of-year team banquet.
"Though each individual skier has goals about performance, the Nanooks Ski Team has three primary goals for the upcoming season: 1) send a full team to NCAAs and finish in the top three among Nordic teams; 2) win an NCAA regional title; and 3) defend our 2010 Alaska Nordic Cup title against the UAA Seawolves,” Jerome added. “I am confident that Lex will be a contributing factor in our pursuit of all three of these goals.”
Prior to his collegiate career, Treinen was a three-time all-state selection in high school. He won the 2006 Alaska state title in the 7.5K freestyle, while helping lead West High to a state team championship. He was also a three-time runner-up at state championship meet and skied to victory in the 10K freestyle at the J1 level at 2008 Junior Nationals as a member of the Alaska Winter Stars. His other club skiing honors were a pair of victories at the Junior Olympics in both 2007 and 2006 and finishing 20th in the 30K pursuit at 2008 U.S. Nationals.
Treinen, whose brother Max is going to be a senior at UAA next year, will continue his studies in Russian at UAF.
He joins David Norris (Fairbanks, AK) and Eric Ryan (Anchorage, AK) in the men's skiing recruiting class of 2010.
