COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Former Alaska Nanook student-athletes Logan Hanneman ('15) and Tyler Kornfield ('13) were named to the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team in the sport of cross-country skiing, as announced today by US Ski and Snowboard.

Hanneman and Kornfield represent two of 20 cross-country skiers named to Team USA at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea in February. The PyeongChang Games mark both Hanneman and Kornfield's first Olympic appearance.

Hanneman, a four-year letterwinner for the Nanooks from 2011-15 and qualified for the NCAA National Championships in each of his four years. Hanneman was named to the All-Central Collegiate Ski Association First Team for three of his four years and was honored for his efforts in the classroom on many different occasions. Throughout his time with the Nanooks, Hanneman also qualified for the World Junior and World Championships.

Furthermore, Hanneman was born and raised in Fairbanks and skied for Lathrop High School under Alaska Nanooks' now-head cross-country running and skiing coach Nick Crawford for two years as a Malemute. Hanneman's brother Reese was also named to Team USA for cross-country skiing and becomes the third pair of siblings to represent the US.

Kornfield, who hails from Anchorage, was a four-year member of the Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team from 2009-2013. Kornfield qualified for the NCAA National Championships in three of his four seasons and won the CCSA title in the 20km Classic race in 2012 as a junior. As a Nanook, Kornfield also qualified to compete in the World Junior Championships his freshman and sophomore seasons and was selected to the All-CCSA Team on two different occasions.

"I have wanted to make the Olympic Team from the first time I knew what the Olympics were," Kornfield said. "I had a plan: ski fast, full scholarship to college, ski professionally, make the Olympics by 19 and win a medal. I learned pretty quickly that life doesn't normally work out like that. I was very fortunate to get an offer to ski at UAF and I had some amazing years, but they didn't come without a lot of downs to go with all the ups."

"Going into this year, I knew a lot of people were going to put too much pressure on themselves," Kornfield continued. "The mental side of racing is such an important factor and I had a breakthrough last year with handling stress and race performance. I decided to go into the season with as few expectations as possible and just ski and race like I used to before there were teams to qualify for. Even though my season started slow, it picked up at just the right time."

"I am so fortunate to have had the support of UAF and the Fairbanks community behind me," Kornfield concluded. "The winters may be brutal, but that isn't why people live up there. It is because of the strong communities and there are none stronger than the ski community."

The PyeongChang Games kick-off February 9 and will conclude on February 25. Cross-country skiing will be contested February 10-25, and competition will be held at the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in the PyeongChang Mountain Cluster.

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