FAIRBANKS – Head coach
Scott Jerome announced the Alaska men's cross country and skiing programs have signed a pair of European recruits to National Letters of Intent as
Alexander Eckert (Bischofsheim, Germany) and
Hallvard Soerheim Evjestad (Gaupne, Norway) (pronounced Ev-jeh-STAD) will both run and ski for the Nanooks next year.
Eckert joins Alaska after a successful career in both distance running and skiing in Germany. He completed his first marathon back in 2013 with a time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 31 seconds, taking 19th place out of 523 finishers, including fifth in his age group (30 and under). Eckert was a champion in the Unterfranken Team Marathon and placed second at the Bavarian Team Marathon.
He turned in a personal-best time of 34:35 in the 10-kilometer race at the 10km du Lac d'Annecy in France. That time was good for 36th place and fourth in his age group.
On the ski trails, his best FIS-point (International Ski Federation) finish came in 2013 at the German National Cup in Oberwiesenthal, as he scored 103.67. Also in the same year, he finished 16th in the Juniors Skiathlon (10K/10K) at the Continental Cup, also known as the Alpen Cup in Oberwiesenthal.
"Alexander is a very good distance skier from Germany," Jerome said. "I'm very impressed by his ability to ski the 20- and 30-kilometer distances and the 20K of course is an NCAA event, so we're excited we're getting some experience with that distance. This is going to help our depth at the NCAA Championships."
Eckert also raced this year in the legendary French skating marathon, "La Transjurassienne." He completed the trek, which measures 76 kilometers, with a time of 3:28:31, to take 155th place out of the 3,329 finishers.
"He's performed well in Europe the last couple years," Jerome said. "He's extremely motivated and is an excellent student."
He plans to major in biochemistry when he enrolls at the university this fall.
Evjestad comes to Fairbanks after seeing much success in his home country of Norway. He skied for Sogn og Fjordane's ski team and was named the Most Valuable Skier in 2013 and 2014. He was a member of the championship relay at the 2013 Junior National Championships, earning Evjestad the "Bragdpokal," which is an outstanding achievement award.
He placed 29th in the 15-kilometer skate at the 2014 Scandinavian Cup, as he accrued 50.61 FIS points in the race. He also took 43rd at the 2014 National Championships in the 50K skate.
"Hallvard is a dedicated skier with solid results," Jerome said. "As we know, the best predictor of future performance is past performance. Hallvard had another solid season in 2013-14 with an impressive 50.61-point FIS race in a 15K skate at a Scandinavian Cup event and a 68.82-point race in a 30K skate in
Gjoevik."
Evjestad, who has skied since 2002, overame a virus which kept him from training and competing from 2010 to 2012 and has worked his way back to being an elite skier for his age group in Norway. Upon his enrollment next semester, he will major in general studies.
"Hallvard knows about training and competing," Jerome said. "I expect him to be a contributor to our team scores immediately. He is also an excellent student who is thrilled to be given the opportunity to ski for the Alaska Nanooks."
Eckert and Evjestad complete Jerome's incoming recruiting classes for men's cross country and skiing. The two join
Daniel Serventi (Anchorage, Alaska) as incoming dual-sport athletes, as well as cross country's
Lyon Kopsack (Palmer, Alaska) and skiing's
Jan Čech (Jilemnice, Czech Republic) and Seiji Takagi (Anchorage, Alaska).
