Skiers Open 2012 At U.S. Championships In Maine

***Schedule Update for 1/2/12 (from head coach Scott Jerome): "The first race at US Nationals (scheduled for today) has been postponed. The snow is deteriorating fast due to warm temps, and it rained HARD last night. So, no racing today."

More details to follow as information about a new schedule is posted.***

2012 U.S. Cross Country Skiing Championships Official Website

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Led by eighth-year head coach Scott Jerome, the Alaska Nanooks men's and women's ski teams will open the 2012 calendar year at the U.S. Cross Country Championships at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford, Jan. 2-8.

It is their first countable races, although they got to dust off their skis and test them for the Nordic Cup against Alaska Anchorage in mid-November.

Alaska returns a roster deep in experience on both sides, coupled with solid rookies and up and coming returners, which could prove the right mix to make a run for the Central Region Championship title come mid-February and qualify a full team (three men and three women) for NCAA's in mid-March for the first time since 2008.

“Our main goal is to qualify a full team for NCAA and win the Regional championships,” said head coach Scott Jerome. “We certainly have the opportunity to do it with the group we have this year. “

The Central Region has eight slots for men and seven for women for this year's NCAA Championships, based on last year's results. The Nanooks qualified five skiers (3 men, 2 women) last season and four in the two seasons prior.

“It's going to be difficult again this year but certainly not impossible,” Jerome said. “We've had four or five qualifiers in the last couple of years, so we'd like to push to get back up to six - where we were a few years ago. We have the skiers to do it if they race well, but Northern Michigan is still our main in-region rival and there are always good skiers at MTU, Scholastica and Green Bay so there's no shoe-in. We'll have to work to get there.”

With David Norris transferring to Montana State after his rookie season and 2010 NCAA All-American Lex Treinen redshirting this season to study abroad in Russia, junior and two-time NCAA participant Tyler Kornfield is the lone returner from Alaska's 2011 NCAA men's team.

“David and Lex are big losses as they both did well at U.S. Nationals last year and went to Europe for the World Championships with the U.S. Ski team,” Jerome said. “The good news is we have Tyler returning for his third year and he's looking as good as I've ever seen him look as far as training and fitness level. He's seen NCAA's twice now and knows what the expectations are and that's a good motivator for him. He's one we're really excited about and he certainly is motivated and fit and we expect good things from him this season.”

Other loses on the men's team include 2011 All-CCSA skiers John Parry and Ray Sabo. However, returning seniors and CCSA Second Team selections Erik Soederstroem and Alex Morris will be called upon to step up and fill the gaps.

“Based on early season time trials, Erik Soederstroem is looking excellent,” said Jerome. “As a senior he's turning it on at the right time and I think he's going to have a really good season.”

“We have a lot of depth on the men's side again this year,” added Jerome. “Even when we had a group of guys go to Europe last year we had guys go to the mid-west and compete and do well. Alex Morris is one of those who will do well for us again this year and give us solid results.”

Adding to the depth is rookie Logan Hanneman, who Jerome says is “someone to keep an eye on.” The Fairbanks native has aspirations of competing for the U.S. Junior National Team at the World Junior Championships in Erzurum, Turkey February 19-26, 2012.

Other new faces include first-year German transplants Ludwig Schott and Jonas Loeffler and sophomore Lars Arneson, who made the travel team this year.

“Ludwig looks really solid thus far and Lars is looking much improved from his freshman year,” said Jerome. “They are two guys who will provide depth for us.”

“You never know on any given day who's going to be up there in our top three and that's a good problem to have,” he added.

The women's team will be led by 2011 NCAA qualifier and sophomore Raphaela Sieber, who Jerome notes is the best technically classic skier on the team.

“She was ninth in one race at U.S. Nationals last year, which was unbelievable,” he said. “She can do pretty amazing things when she's fit and peaked and ready and we saw that last year. We're excited to see more of that in her second year of collegiate skiing.”

“While she's not quite where she was at this point last year, we're confident she'll progress through the season and she's on the right track to be a solid contributor for us toward the end of the year when it counts the most,” Jerome added.

Alaska will be without the services of three-year NCAA participant and 2011 First Team All-CCSA racer Theresia Schnurr, who opted to redshirt in skiing this year to focus on cross country this fall.

Despite missing Schnurr this year, the Blue and Gold have more power behind Sieber. The list includes juniors Rebecca Konieczny, Crystal Pitney and Marit Rjabov, sophomore Heather Edic, and rookies Alyson McPhetres and Heidi O'Connor-Brook.

“We just don't know yet how it's all going to shake out on the women's team,” Jerome said. “Last year Rebecca was second a (NCAA Central) Regionals in one race, so you just never know how the scores are going to play out.“

“Crystal Pitney is our dark horse this year,” Jerome said. “She's come a long way in her skiing. She trained hard this summer and is super fit and she's the most dedicated athlete as far as technique work on our team and its showing. If there's someone who wasn't in our top group last year who could be, its Crystal Pitney.”

“There's certainly more youth on the women's side and we have people who are on the travel team for the first time. It's going to be a learning curve for them but they've got good leadership on the team with Rebecca and Raphaela so I think they're going to figure it out quickly.”

While Alaska's women took the Central Region title and its men were second in 2011, Jerome emphasized the program's goal of taking both in 2012.

“We'd like to win the whole thing this year,” he said. “Northern is always tough but I think we have a good opportunity to do it this year.”

“I'd like to see the guys (like Morris and Soederstroem) who've put in the time and the effort get rewarded. It would be particularly special for them to get over the top on NMU this year.”

Following the races in Maine this week, the teams will have three more races over the four weeks that follow to prepare for the CCSA Championships Feb. 11-12 in Houghton, before they look to make good on their goal of a Central Region title in Ishpeming on Feb. 17-18.

2012 U.S. Cross Country Championships Schedule:

Monday, 2 January 2012 (CANCELLED)	1.4km (Women) & 1.6km (Men) Freestyle Sprints
9:00 AM	Women's Qualifying at 15 second intervals
10:00 AM	Men's Qualifying at 15 second intervals
12:00 PM	Start of Heats (Men, Women, Juniors)
Wednesday, 4 January 2012	15km Men/10km Women Freestyle - Individual Start - 15 second intervals
9:00 AM	Men's 15km
11:00 AM	Women's 10km
Friday, 6 January 2012	20km Women's/30km Men's Classical - Mass Start
9:00 AM	Women's 20km
11:00 AM	Men's 30km
1:30 PM	Jr Women's 5km - Individual Start - 15 Second Intervals
2:30 PM	Jr Men's 10km - Individual Start - 15 Second Intervals
Sunday, 8 January 2012	1.6km Men & 1.4km Women - Classical Sprints
9:00 AM	Men's Qualifying at 15 second intervals
10:00 AM	Women's Qualifying at 15 second intervals
12:00 PM	Start of Heats (Men, Women, Juniors)

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