HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team sent seven skiers to the U.S. National Championships in Houghton, Mich. this weekend. After day one, the Nanooks had strong outing.

Day one led off with a freestyle sprint in Houghton and three men's skiers pushed to a top 100 finish in the qualifiers. Mike Ophoff led the way for the Nanooks as he finished 57th in the sprint with a time of 3:24.93. Behind him was Christopher Kalev who finished 80th with a time of 3:29.11. The final Nanooks men's racer was Lukash Platil who checked in at 98th with a time of 3:32.81.

Unfortunately for the 'Nooks, none of these times advanced them to the Quarter Finals.

As for the women racers, the Nanooks found a lot of success on the track. Mariel Pulles had the best time of any 'Nooks skier as she pushed a 3:46.62 in qualifiers which was good enough to get her all the way to the Semi Finals. She then took fifth, not advancing to the finals with a heat time of 3:44.51.

Three other Nanooks competed but did not make it past the qualifying round. Catherine Reed-Metayer finished in 48th place with a time of 4:01.20 while just behind her in 49th was Anja Maijala with a time of 4:01.44. The final Nanook to cross the line was Sarah Olson who finished 86th with a time of 4:10.25.

Friday, Jan. 3 will be day two of the U.S. National Championships as the racers will compete in the Freestyle Individual Start.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Nordic Ski team, follow @AlaskaNanooksXC on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.