JACKSON, N.H. – The Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team picked-up 75 team points on day one of the NCAA Skiing Championships. Four of the five Alaska skiers raced to a top-20 finish on March 11, 2021 at Jackson Nordic Center.
 
Thursday's Nordic NCAA Championships kicked-off with a men's 10k classic race. Christopher Kalev and Mike Ophoff are the two Nanook representatives, racing in their first NCAA Championships. Kalev was the top-finisher out of the two, finishing in 14^th overall place with a time of 27:33.2. Despite a small tumble on the course, Kalev felt his overall race felt strong, "It's never easy to adapt to that kind of heat during a ski race, so I took a moment on one downhill to cool down in the snow. Overall fitness seemed good, skis were superb, and I was able to get the heart rate close to maximum so I was pretty pleased."
 
Ophoff was close behind, finishing 17^th overall. He picked up 14 team points and posted a time of 27:57.3. Mike felt his skis took him home, "My body felt okay-ish but the course didn't fit me much so skis had to carry me through."
 
The men's team finished day one with 31 total points. 
 
Following the men's 10k race, the women kicked off their Championships with their 5k classic race. Kendall Kramer, Mariel Pulles and Catherine Reed-Metayer represented the Nanooks, racing to 44 team points.
 
Mariel Pulles picked up an NCAA trophy in the classic race, posting a finishing time of 16:31.8 and grabbing a seventh place finish. "She [Mariel] had her eyes on the podium." according to coach Jennie Bender. From Pulles, she was just ready for the next race, "Overall, I gave what I had and now I'm just waiting for the next race." With the seventh place finish, Pulles picked-up 25 team points. 
 
Next in line was Kendall Kramer, the freshman from Fairbanks. She picked up a 12^th place finish for the Nanooks, racing to a time of 17:08.3 and grabbing 19 team points. Kramer loved how she felt in the afternoon race, "I felt really good and could finally have some fun with a course with oxygen. I felt on fire getting to run up hills and not be slipping at all. I got to feel fit again."
 
Finally, rounding-out the Nanooks lineup was Catherine Reed-Metayer. Reed-Metayer raced to a 33^rd overall finish, posting a time of 19:14.1. Reed-Metayer was happy with her performance, "I won all my splits, so that's a win! I had a blast pushing through the tough conditions and heat, thanks to the wax techs for some great skis!"
 
The Nanooks are off tomorrow, March 12, but hit the slopes once again on Saturday, March 13 for the men's 20k freestyle and women's 15k freestyle. All live video and stats are available on the official NCAA Ski page. 
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team, follow the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.