Men's Skiing | 1/7/2017 6:58:00 PM

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MIDWAY, Utah – Led by senior Nichole Bathe and sophomore Max Donaldson, the Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams had an impressive showing in the opening day of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Nanooks competed in the 10/15km individual-start, freestyle race on Saturday, which also counted as an official Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association race, Alaska's first since joining the conference last summer.

According to head coach Nick Crawford, conditions on the trails and in the air were cold for the majority of the day in Midway, with the temperature reaching about -14 degrees F at arrival on Saturday morning but warming up to about 14 degrees above zero once races began, posting a small challenge for the Nanooks.

"Today was a good day for the team, especially for our women," head coach Nick Crawford said on Saturday evening. "Training in Fairbanks on similar cold snow conditions makes us well prepared for these conditions. We're excited to see how we do in the classic, sprint race tomorrow, as a few of our athletes excel at classic racing and a few more are very talented sprinters."

In a field of 248 skiers, Bathe placed the highest amongst all Nanooks on Saturday afternoon, finishing the 10km freestyle 30th overall with a time of 29:19.4. Bathe's time was only 2:18.8 behind first-place's Caitlin Gregg, but ranked her ninth overall against fellow RMISA competitors.

Junior Sarissa Lammers was the second Nook to cross the finish line with the second-fastest time, finishing the 10km freestyle with a time of 29:53.2, ranking her 52nd overall. Lammers' race ranked her 12th against other conference competition, finishing the race only 00:34.2 behind Bathe.

Both Bathe and Lammers are in the hunt for a spot on Team USA's Under-23 Team for the upcoming World Championships, which also being held at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in early February. In their respected age group (U23), Bathe and Lammers placed ninth and 19th, respectively. The selection committee will be taking into account 2-of-4 races throughout the US Cross Country Ski Championships to determine who will be on Team USA.

As one of the highest-ranked recruits in the country last year, freshman Anna Darnell made an impact in her third race for the Nanooks, placing 55th overall and 13th among RMISA skiers with a time of 30:03.5. Like her teammates, Darnell is eligible to qualify for Team USA's Junior team for the World Junior Championships in early February. In her age group (U20), Darnell finished Saturday's race in eighth place.

Junior Ann-Cathrin Uhl (31:33.4), senior Hannah Rowland (33:00.9) and freshman Hannah Booher (34:49.2) also raced for the Nanooks on Saturday, as well.

"Our top-three women all had excellent races today," Crawford said of his women's team. "Nichole's top-30 performance overall and Sarissa and Anna both in the top-55 were great results, especially given how deep and talented the field is here at these races."

Donaldson led Alaska's men's team this afternoon, as the Fairbanks native finished the 15km freestyle race with a time of 38:07.6. Donaldson was only 3:15.6 behind first-place finisher Kyle Bratrud (34:52.0), but placed seventh amongst RMISA competitors.

Like Darnell, Donaldson is the only skier on the Alaska Nanooks men's Nordic ski team to qualify for the Team USA Junior Team in the upcoming World Junior Championships in February and concluded Saturday's race seventh amongst skiers in the U20 age group. The selection committee will look at 2-of-3 of this weekend's races in order to determine the Team USA Junior team.

In a field of 306 skiers, juniors Jan Cech (38:46.1) and Nick Lovett (38:56.2) were the only other Nooks to finish in the top-100 overall, placing 84th and 92nd, respectively. In conference standings, Cech placed 10th overall, while Lovett placed 12th.

Senior Michael Fehrenbach (39:09.6), junior Seiji Takagi (39:12.6), sophomore Tristan Sayre (40:27.4), junior Daniel Serventi (41:10.5) and junior Alexander Eckert (41:49.6) also represented the Alaska Nanooks on the trail on Saturday, as well.

"Max and Jan both had great races today, which doesn't surprise me, as they both do really well on challenging skate courses like the one we had today," Crawford concluded. "Both of them also had exceptional off-season training and that pair off today, where the fittest of athletes do the best. Nick, Michael, Seiji and Alex were all close in a tight pack but we expect them to have even better races in the upcoming classic and sprint races."

It will be a quick turnaround for the Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams, as both teams will compete in the classic sprint races tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 8. Depending on how each skier does in the qualifiers, there will be a senior classic sprint heat and a junior classic sprint heat to determine four national champions.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams, follow @AlaskaNanooksXC on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.