Birch Hill Current Weather Conditions
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FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The men's and women's ski teams will host Alaska Anchorage for the ninth annual Nordic Cup this weekend, Nov. 16-18 at Birch Hill as a part of the Tour de Fairbanks town series races.
The Nanooks lead the all-time cup series 5-2-1 and are eager to relinquish the cup from UAA, whose 2011 victory snapped Alaska's five-year stranglehold.
The teams are scheduled to begin the battle for the Cup on Friday evening at 5 p.m. in the Tour de Fairbanks Prologue women's two-kilometer classic interval race. The men will follow with a 3K race after a short break.
Saturday, they are slated for a pair of classical mass starts with the women taking off on their 5K course at noon and the men following with their 7.5K event at 12:45 p.m.
On Sunday, the women open the day's competition with a 10K freestyle pursuit race at 10:30 a.m., while the men will ski the same race at 11:15 a.m.
Both Nanook squads boast deep and competitive rosters that will push each other throughout the season, which officially starts this weekend with the Nordic Cup races, for the chance to race at the NCAA Championships in March.
The men's team is likely to be led by its top returners, who include seniors
Tyler Kornfield (Mechanical Engineering) and two-time All-American
Lex Treinen (Northern Studies) and sophomore
Logan Hanneman (Mechanical Engineering). The trio has all raced at the National Championships before.
A handful of returners bolster the depth chart with senior
Ian Wilkinson (Art), junior
Lars Arneson (Geology) and sophomores Jonas Löffler (Business),
Andrew Arnold (Chemistry) and
Wyatt Mayo (Biological Sciences). Making their debut for the Blue and Gold are junior transfer
Max Olex (Northern Studies) and freshmen
Kenneth Brewer (Biological Sciences),
Stefan Hajdukovich (Biological Sciences) and German native
Michael Fehrenbach (Mechanical Engineering).
Four members on the women's 12-person roster have NCAA experience and will battle for spots at this year's event in Middlebury, VT. Leading the charge are seniors
Theresia Schnurr (Biochemistry),
Marit Rjabov (Psychology) and
Crystal Pitney (Business Administration) along with junior
Raphaela Sieber (Business Administration).
Pushing their teammates all season will be senior
Rebecca Konieczny (Biological Sciences), junior
Heather Edic (Civil Engineering) and sophomores
Alyson McPhetres (Geological Engineering) and
Heidi O'Connor-Brook (Music).
Two new skiers will make their collegiate debuts. The rookie class includes
Kryston McPhetres (Emergency Management) and
Julia Ebner (General Studies).
Last year, Hanneman led Alaska's men in a podium sweep the first day of the Nordic Cup competition. Kornfield finished third, while Löffler, Arenson and Wilkinson landed top-10 finishes. The second day of events saw Kornfield edged for the top-spot by UAA's Lucas Ebner and Hanneman took third.
In the women's competition, Koneiczny and O'Connor-Brook led on different days, but the Seawolf women swept the podium twice to overcome the lead held by the Nanook men for the 45-39 margin on the weekend and Cup title.
Weather forecasted for the weekend threatens to change the 2012 event format. Under NCAA and USSA/FIS regulations the temperature cutoff for races that are countable is -4F. Alaska's skiers will compete in temperatures warmer than -10F but strictly for training purposes as any results won't count towards their USAA/FIS points and rankings.
Should races be postponed and eventually cancelled on Saturday and Sunday, preventing a second day of races to help determine the Cup champion, the archrivals will use results from the first distance race at the U.S. Cross Country Skiing Nationals slated for Jan. 2-8 in Midway, Utah.
This weekend's races represent the Nanooks only home events of the season and they will not compete against other collegiate ski teams until after the New Year.
