ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams kick-off the New Year by competing in four different events at the 2018 L.L. Bean U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships Jan. 3-8 at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska. Furthermore, the first two days of competition will count toward the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) standings and potential spots at the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships in March.

"It's been a long break from competition since our first intercollegiate races earlier this season but the athletes have been staying sharp with fast-paced training intervals and also competing in some local races since," head coach Nick Crawford said on Tuesday. "The end of the semester with final exams is always stressful and it makes training and racing a little more difficult at that time of the year. The break from school has been really nice though, with the athletes feeling well-rested and ready to go again."
 

Championship Site	2018 U.S. Cross Country Skiing National Championships
Dates	Wednesday, Jan. 3 | Friday, Jan. 5 | Sunday, Jan. 7 | Monday, Jan. 8
Location	Kincaid Park | Anchorage, Alaska
Distances & Races	Wednesday, Jan. 3: Individual-start, 10/15km Freestyle Friday, Jan. 5: Freestyle Sprint Sunday, Jan. 7: Mass-start, 5/10/20/30km Classic Monday, Jan. 8: Classic Sprint
Course Maps	Wednesday: 10km Freestyle Course Map | 15km Freestyle Course Map Friday: Freestyle Sprint Course Map Sunday: 5km Classic Map | 7km Classic Map | Junior Classic Map Monday: Classic Sprint Course Map
Results	Click HERE
Social Media	Twitter | Facebook

 
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks return to the trails for their first competition since November, after falling to in-state rival Alaska Anchorage in the 14th annual Nordic Cup. The Seawolves compiled a total time of 4:49:49.4 to the Nanooks' 4:56:10.5 throughout the two-day event in Hatcher's Pass, outside of Anchorage.

Home Field Advantage
This year's Championships will be held in Alaska for the first time since Kincaid Park played host in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010. The Nanooks boast five Alaskans on their rosters, including sophomore Anna Darnell, senior Sarissa Lammers, junior Max Donaldson, senior Seiji Takagi and freshman Logan Mowry. Donaldson and Mowry are from Fairbanks, Takagi and Darnell hail from Anchorage and Lammers lists Eagle River as her hometown.

"We're excited that the U.S. National Championships will be in Alaska again on trails we're very familiar with," Crawford continued. "The last major U.S. race series of the year were the Super Tour Finals that were held at Birch Hill last March. The team really enjoys racing in Anchorage and so many of our athletes, alums and fans live in Anchorage that it always feels like it's a home race, even though we're on the road."

Nanook Alumni
Some notable former Alaska Nanook skiers will also be competing in the National Championships this weekend, as David Norris, Logan Hanneman and Tyler Kornfield will be representing the Alaska Pacific University team. APU is not affiliated with the NCAA; therefore, these former Nanooks bear the name of the University but are considered professionals.

Qualifying Races
In addition to competitive senior athletes tearing up the course this week, the U.S. Cross Country Championships is also an avenue for young seniors and top junior athletes to qualify and represent Team USA for elite international racing teams:

• 2018 Olympics (PyeongChang, South Korea | Feb. 9-25, 2018): The U.S. XC Nationals will serve as one of the tryout events to pick the 2018 Olympic team. Selection for the Olympic team, in addition to tryout races and other criteria is also used, includes Olympic FIS points, FIS World Cup Cross Country Competitions, Discretions and Super Tour Points. Former Nanooks David Norris, Logan Hanneman and Tyler Kornfield were selected as skiers to watch who have a good chance of making the Olympic team.
• World Juniors & U23 Championships (Goms-Kandersteg, Switzerland | Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2018): The World Juniors and U23 Championships feature the nation's best skiers, ages 18-23. Eleven women and 11 men are selected between the two teams. The U.S. XC National Championships is the sole selection series for this event.
• The Junior Nationals (Soldier Hollow, Utah | Mar. 5-10 2018): Junior Nationals is the premier junior event with more than 400 junior skiers and will take place in Soldier Hollow, Utah. The U.S. Championships serves as one of many tryout races for this event. Skiers that compete at Nationals are awarded points and any skier making the Top-20 Junior ranking lists at the end of the competition prequalifies for Junior Nationals. This age group is 14-19.

Conference Race Begins
This weekend's races also kicks-off the RMISA season with Wednesday's individual-start, 10/15km freestyle race and Friday's freestyle sprints (qualifiers only, not finals) counting toward the conference standings. These vital conference points also help each of the RMISA teams earn a spot at the 2018 NCAA Championships in Steamboat, Colorado Mar. 7-10.

Crawford's Corner
"As it was last year, this series of races has a few different purposes for the team. The first two competitions are RMISA conference races and will be a great chance to see how we stack up against the other teams in our conference for the first time this season. Additionally, for some of our American athletes in the Under-20 and Under-23 age categories, a good performance will qualify them to represent the US in the World Junior and Under-23 World Championships in late January and early February."

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.