Men's Results | Women's Results

SEATTLE – The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's cross country running teams officially kicked-off the 2017 season on Saturday morning, as both teams competed in the Sundodger Invitational at the Lincoln Park trails in Seattle. The race was hosted by the University of Washington and featured seven other Great Northwest Athletic Conference schools.

Junior Alex Bergholtz led the Alaska Nanooks women's team in the 6km race, while senior Seiji Takagi took first amongst his teammates in the men's 8km.

"The team had a good day at the Sundodger Invitational," head coach Nick Crawford said on Saturday. "We have a few areas to work on over the next couple of months but overall, I was pleased to see that we look really fit, with most of the team running personal-best times today. This is always good to see in our first time running a 6km and 8km race for the season and for our first out of state trip for the year."

With a full day of smoke in the air and dust on the trails, Bergholtz ran the women's 6km race in 22:45.56 to place 37th overall in a field of 197 runners. The Kenai native's time was only one minute and 35 second off the overall leader, Ruby Roberts (21:10.58). Nonetheless, Bergholtz placed 13th amongst fellow GNAC runners.

Senior Kim Fitzgerald was the second Nanook to cross the finish line, posting a time of 23:15.02 to rank 53rd overall, while junior Morgan Siebka posted a time of 23:20.50 to place 56th overall. In her Nanook debut, freshman Anja Maijala totaled a time of 24:11.55 to rank 94th, while senior Tatjana Spaic (24:36.72) placed 123rd overall to round-out the Alaska women's top-five finishers.

The Alaska Nanooks women's cross country team placed 12th of 20 teams in the race today, tallying 310 points and posting a total time of 1:58:09.35. The Nooks averaged a 6km time of 23:37.87. GNAC rival Simon Fraser placed first amongst the women's teams in the open division, posting only 42 points and a total time of 1:48:58.20 to average a 6km time of 21:47.64.

"Alex and Kim both had great races today setting personal-best times for the 6km. After taking a redshirt season last fall, Alex hasn't ran a 6km in two years but took three minutes off of her time from her freshman year to be our frontrunner today," Crawford said of his women's team. "Kim took about 30 seconds off of her time on this same course last year to set a personal-best time, showing that she has great fitness this year."

"I was really pleased with how three newcomers to our team did today, rounding out our top-five scorers," Crawford continued. "Morgan is a first-year UAF graduate student and transfer from Southern Florida University, while Tatjana is a UAF senior but who's running for us for the first time. Morgan and Tatjana have a lot of running experience but both had good starts to their careers today as Nanooks. Anja, who is a true freshman, had a great start to her collegiate racing career today and I'm sure she will continue to be a huge contributor to our team for the next four years."

Takagi paced the Alaska Nanooks men's cross country team in Saturday's men's 8km race, as the Anchorage native posted a time of 25:39.90 to place 54th overall in a field of 207 harriers. Pacific Lutheran's Brad Hodkinson placed first amongst all runners in the men's 8km open division, posting a time of 24:24.95. Amongst GNAC runners, Takagi placed 22nd.

Sophomore Lukash Platil was only five second behind Takagi, crossing the finish line with a time of 26:04.46 to place 57th overall while senior Lyon Kopsack followed closely behind with a time of 26:05.36 to place 59th overall. Senior Jan Cech (26:14.82) and sophomore Jacob Walsh (26:29.69) placed 67th and 82nd overall, respectively, to round-out Alaska's top-five men.

Of 19 teams competing in the men's 8km open division, Alaska placed eighth overall with 248 points. The Nooks posted a total time of 2:10:54.23 and an average 8km time of 26:10.85. Trinity Western won the men's team award with 46 points and a total time of 2:05:14.30.

"Our men's team had a great race with four of our five returners setting personal-best times for the 8km race and first-year runner Josiah (Alverts) having a great debut in the competition," Crawford said of his men's team. "Seiji was our first guy across the finish line today with a big personal-best performance in the 8km but Lyon, Jan and Jacob also set personal-bests today following closely behind. I was really pleased at our ability to run as a pack today with all six guys in sight of one another for most of the race."

The Alaska Nanooks return home following Saturday's race but will be in action on next Saturday, Sept. 23 at the Saint Martin's Invitational in Lacey, Washington.

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