FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's cross country running teams head to Bellingham, Washington to participate in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 21 at the East Lake Padden Park. The women will compete in the 6km race at 9am AKDT, while the men's 8km race is scheduled for 10am AKDT.
"We're looking forward to going back to Bellingham and racing in the GNAC Championships this week," head coach
Nick Crawford said on Thursday. "Western Washington always does a great job hosting the races and it has become a very familiar course for us, as it will be our sixth time competing there in three years. We've had a few of our top runners out the last couple of meets for various reasons so we're looking forward to seeing how we can do now that we have our top team on the starting line."
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's cross country teams return to action after a two-week break from competition. The Nooks last competed in the Western Washington Cross Country Classic at the same course in Bellingham, where junior
Morgan Siebka and redshirt-senior
Carl Wahlin placed first amongst their teammates.
GNAC Men's Preview
Over the last two years, Alaska Anchorage has won every GNAC men's team title in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field. The Seawolves hope to start their third year of dominance and win their eighth consecutive men's cross country title as they return defending GNAC champion Edwin Kangogo. Simon Fraser and Western Washington stand the best chance to end UAA's string of team titles, as the Clan have placed second each of the last two years and the Vikings showed well in their final tune-up of the season on the home course.
What to Expect from Alaska – Men
"After missing the Western Washington Classic, we're excited to have four of our top guys back with Seiji, Luk, Jan and Jacob all back racing for us this weekend. Combined with Carl, Lyon and Logan, who raced well in Bellingham two weeks ago, we have a very strong men's team for our conference championship race." – Crawford said of his men.
GNAC Women's Preview
Last year, the UAA Seawolves collected their second-straight title and seventh in eight years but in one of the closest races in conference history, the champion was determined by UAA and Simon Fraser's fifth placing runner.
What to Expect from Alaska – Women
"Our women's team continues to look great in practice and are poised to have great races this weekend.
Alex Bergholtz is back after an illness kept her out of the Western Washington Classic and I expect she'll lead the team along with
Kim Fitzgerald, Anni-Uhl,
Morgan Siebka and
Anja Maijala." – Crawford said of his women.
Awards
All awards for the GNAC XC Championships are based on finish in the race. The top-10 finishers in each race will be designated All-GNAC. The champion in each race will be the Men's and Women's Athlete of the Year. The Freshman and Newcomer of the Year awards will go to the top-placing athlete in each race meeting the award criteria.
Course Expectations
Runners are likely in for a wet and sloppy course on Saturday, as rain is expected in Bellingham all week with showers and temperatures of 45 degrees are forecasted for race time. WWU describes East Lake Padden Park as, "the majority of the surface is the hard-pack gravel (covered in some places by dirt and fir needles) of the main Lake Padden trail. Grassy surfaces – sometimes mucky, dominate the start, finish and turnaround loops for each course."
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks cross country running teams, follow @AlaskaNanooksXC on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.
