Men's Skiing | 3/9/2017 8:16:00 PM

Men's Results | Women's Results

JACKSON, N.H. – Two Nanooks posted top-20 finishes at the 2017 NCAA Skiing National Championships on Thursday afternoon, as the Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams competing in the 10/5km individual-start classic race at the Jackson Touring Ski Center. The Nooks were led by redshirt-junior Michael Fehrenbach on the men's side, while senior Nichole Bathe represented the women's team.

"Today was a very challenging day for waxing and I feel that we got a little unlucky today," head coach Nick Crawford said on Thursday. "The temperature was right at freezing all day and snow squalls would come in and out, leaving tracks full of snow one minute, then turn the course would turn to glazed, icy snow underneath."

Fehrenbach posted a 10km classic time of 27:29.8 to place 18th overall. Fehrenbach's finish gave the Nanooks 13 points on the day of the men's team's 22 points total.

Sophomore Max Donaldson barely missed the top-20 overall, placing 22nd in the men's race with a time of 27:49.5. Redshirt-junior Jan Cech placed 33rd overall with a time of 28:20.7.

"We came up with a combination of waxes for the men's team I've never even heard of using before that worked out okay," Crawford described. "But it wasn't great for either kicking up the hills or gliding on the flats and downhills."

Utah's Martin Bergstroem placed first overall in the men's race, posting a finishing time of 25:33.1. Among other Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) skiers, Fehrenbach, Donaldson and Cech placed ninth, 11th and 14th, respectively

"Mickey and Max both had good races today and did a great job making their skis work, despite the difficult conditions," Crawford said of his men's team. "Mickey has finished in a similar place in the NCAA Championships classic race the last few years so this was a good result for him. Max had a really good NCAA Championships debut today finishing 22nd and we look forward to seeing what he can do in the freestyle race, as that has always been his better discipline."

Bathe completed the 5km classic race 20th overall, crossing the finish line with a time of 16:24.4 to tally 11 of Alaska's 17 points on the day for the women's team.

Junior Sarissa Lammers posted a 5km time of 16:36.2 to place 26th overall, while fellow junior Ann-Cathrin Uhl followed closely behind, placing 30th overall with a time of 16:49.8.

"When we tested the women's team's wax about fifteen minutes before the start of the race, it looked great," Crawford continued. "But by the by the time they started, the skis were very draggy and would catch in the fresh snow, causing them to come to almost a complete stop."

Colorado's Petra Hyncicova was the winner of the women's 5km classic race, placing first overall with a time of 14:55.5, being the only skier to finish the 5km race under 15 minutes on the day. Among fellow RMISA skiers, Bathe, Lammers and Uhl placed 12th, 16th and 18th, respectively.

"We felt bad that our women could have done a lot better today had we had them on better wax," Crawford concluded. "This is one of the tough realities of classic ski racing that our team has benefitted from in the past but we definitely missed out on today. We're still pleased for Nichole to finish in the top-20, despite falling twice when her skies iced up and Sarissa had a decent race placing 26th. Both of these girls are very good skate skiers as well, so we're excited to see what they can do on Saturday."

The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams conclude their final day at the NCAA Skiing National Championships on Saturday, Mar. 11, competing in the 20/15km mass-start freestyle race. The men are slated for 6am AKST, while the women are scheduled for 8am AKST.

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 page on Facebook.