Midway, Utah – The Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team wrapped up day two of the University of Utah Invitational at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center with two top-25 finishes in the women's 5k Free Interval Start and three top-40 finishes in the men's 10k free interval start.
Kendall Kramer led the way for the 'Nooks in the women's race, finishing 19
th overall and 13
th in the women's college class. Kramer posted a race-time of 13:20.2. Just behind her in the women's college class in 14
th was
Mariel Pulles. She posted a 13:31.7, good enough for 23
rd overall.
Catherine Reed-Metayer was the third Nanook to cross the finish-line, finishing 69
th overall and 24
th in the women's college class. She crossed with a time of 14:33.7.
Rya Berrigan (82
nd/25
th , 14:53.18) and
Sage Robine (142
nd/29
th , 16:11.3) were the final two Alaska women's racers.
On the men's side, the Nanooks took part in the 10k free interval start. They were led by
Lukash Platil who placed 30
th overall and 14
th in the men's college class. He posted a time of 23:00.0. Next in line for Alaska was
Mike Ophoff, just four places behind in 34
th overall and 18
th in the men's college class with a finishing time of 23:06.7.
Christopher Kalev placed 38
th/21
st with a time of 23:11.5.
Logan Mowry (68
th/27
th , 24:21.8) and
Patrick Marbacher (82
nd/28
th , 25:01.0) were the final Nanooks to finish their race.
Coaches Thoughts
The team put in a good effort today, although the timing of travel and altitude definitely had an impact. Our top three guys were 11 seconds apart, which I believe shows how much of an impact training with your teammates can have. Mariel and Kendall have a similar story, as they have been great training partners, pushing each other this season. Tomorrow will be a challenging course ,and these guys are ready to tackle it and show a good fight.
Alaska finishes their trip tomorrow with one more race at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. The races begin at 7:00 a.m. AKT and live times and results can be found at summittiming.com.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team, follow @UAFXC on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.
