Results

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams kicked-off the 2018 Skiing National Championships on Thursday morning, competing in the 5/10km individual-start, classic race at Howelson Hill.

Following Thursday's performance, the Nanooks sit in 14th place overall with 32 points. Of the 23 teams competing in the National Championships, only nine sponsor a full men's and women's Nordic and men's and women's Alpine ski teams, which the overall standings take into place. Since Alaska doesn't sponsor Alpine skiing, Alaska only submits Nordic skiing scores.

In the Nordic-only standings, Alaska ranks 10th, while the women sit in ninth place with 22 points and the men rank 15th with 10 points.

In the women's 5km classic race, senior Ann-Cathrin Uhl was the highest-finishing Nanook of both teams placing 17th overall with a time of 16:26.2. In a field of 40 skiers, Uhl's finish gave Alaska 14 points on the day.

Junior Kati Roivas was the second Alaska skier to cross the finish line of Thursday's classic race, placing 25th overall with a time of 16:39.0 for six points. Sophomore Anna Darnell rounded-out the Nanooks' team on Thursday, posting a time of 16:57.8 for two points and 29th place finish.

"Today was a great day for our women's team and possibly the best classic race of the year for these three women, which is great to have at the NCAA Championships," head coach Nick Crawford said on Thursday. "Having all three women inside the top-30 at the NCAA Championships is for sure an accomplishment for our team. We're especially pleased with Anni's top-20 finish, which is a huge improvement over her results from the Championships last year. Kati and Anna were also pleased with their races and gave it everything they had for a solid performance."

Dartmouth's Katherine Ogden was named the overall winner in the 5km classic, posting a time of 14:47.2 to take the national title.

In the men's 10km classic race, redshirt-senior Nick Lovett was the first Nook to cross the finish line with a time of 29:40.0 to place 25th overall. In a field of 40 skiers, Lovett's finish gave the Nanooks six points.

Following closely behind, junior Max Donaldson registered a time of 29:52.3 to rank 27th overall for four points. Senior Seiji Takagi closed-out the Nanooks three skiers with a time of 30:03.4, ranking 33rd overall.

"Today wasn't the best day for the men but I attribute part of that to slippery skies," Crawford said of his men. "On clear days like today, the Colorado sun warms and transforms the snow drastically at around 11am when the men started. We had a good, sticky, kick wax option but held off from putting it on and I'm for sure regretting it now. The men had good skis for the first lap but as the sun warmed, they were left using their upper bodies primarily to get around the second lap. Today was for sure a good day for Nick Lovett, who has great fitness at the end of the season this year and also a solid day for Max to crack the top-30. All three men have the potential to do much better on Saturday and we're looking forward to that race."

The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's Nordic ski teams will be back in action for the final day of competition at the 2018 NCAA Skiing National Championships on Saturday, Mar. 10 with the 15/20km mass-start freestyle race at Howelson Hill.

Junior Nationals
Some of the Alaska Nanooks who didn't' qualify for the NCAA Championships went to compete in the United States Junior Nationals in Solider Hollow, Utah on Thursday, led by freshman Anja Maijala.

"First-year Anja Maijala has also had a great start to her weekend of racing, landing inside the top-10 for "Under-20" aged athletes in the first two races at the Junior National Championships in Solider Hollow," Crawford concluded. "She has had a great season and its awesome to see her cap off the season with some good races at Junior Nationals."

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.