Race Results
MIDWAY, Utah – Junior
Logan Hanneman (Fairbanks, Alaska/Mechanical Engineering) competed in his first championship final of the season as he took fifth place in the 1.5-kilometer free technique skate sprint at the 2014 United States Nationals on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Hollow.
"This totally gets me psyched because of my back injury [last summer], I'm not really focusing on these races because I want to do well at NCAA's," Hanneman said. "I train through these races, so to know that I'm not peaking and still doing well, it feels good and is very exciting for the month to come."
Hanneman qualified for the quarterfinals after turning in a 21st-place finish in the preliminary race in two minutes, 48.18 seconds, placing him in the first quarterfinal bracket, which also featured his brother,
Reese Hanneman.
"Reese is pretty recognizable throughout the national ski community so when we both get together, there are a lot of people cheering us on," Hanneman said.
The semifinal round took the top-two skiers from each of the five quarterfinals, in addition to the next two fastest skiers outside the top two and Hanneman claimed the final slot for the semifinals with his fourth-place finish in the quarters while his brother was third taking the other wild card spot.
"We ended up having the fastest heat and I, along with my brother who was third in the quarterfinal, got the two 'lucky loser' spots and moved on," Hanneman said. "That was a huge relief because it was a fast quarterfinal and I wasn't sure I'd move on.
He punched his ticket for the 'A' final race after crossing the line in second in his semifinal heat. In the final, which had three Fairbanks natives, with his brother and Bates University's
Jordan Buetow, he finished fifth overall for his top finish of the Central Collegiate Ski Association season. His finish was the second-best by a collegian, behind Buetow, who was fourth.
"I skied smart in the semifinal and made my move on the last hill up into the stadium and ended up second," Hanneman said. "It was really close and I didn't know I got second, so that put me in the 'A' final."
Senior
Max Olex (Aalen, Germany/Business Administration) also qualified for the quarterfinal stage after leading the team with a tied for 12th-place finish in the qualifiers, with a time of 2:47.28. In the fifth quarterfinal race, Olex took fifth in his heat, which had a pair of top-10 qualifiers in the race.
Redshirt freshman
Isaac Lammers (Eagle River, Alaska/Mechanical Engineering) was 43rd overall in the qualification race after he completed the 1.5K in 2:53.59. Also competing for the Nanooks men was redshirt sophomore
Kenneth Brewer (Chugiak, Alaska/Biological Sciences), who was 108th in 3:03.66 in a field that consisted of 189 racers.
"It was certainly a good day and obviously when you have a smaller number, you work with the student-athletes you think will be competitive in the sprints," head coach
Scott Jerome said. "We knew we had a pretty good squad out there as far as the opportunity to qualify. It gave some of the other team members the chance to rest and get ready for the 20 and 30K."
