FAIRBANKS – It was a big weekend for the Alaska Nanooks women's cross country team as they earned the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Team of the Week award as well as freshman, Kendall Kramer, being named the GNAC XC Women's Athlete of the Week. 
 
The first accomplishment comes after the Nanooks women's cross country team knocked-off the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves for the first time in a head-to-head race in program history. Kramer led the way for Alaska, placing first with a time of 18:34 in the 5k. She finished seven seconds ahead of fellow-freshman and teammate, Rosie Fordham, who placed second with a time of 18:41. 40 seconds behind came the third Nanook racer, freshman Naomi Bailey, with a time of 19:21. Delainey Zock (21:00) and Mariel Pulles (21:10) rounded out the scoring for Alaska with fifth and sixth place finishes. 
 
With those finishing places, the Nanooks defeated their in-state rivals 17-38.
 
"Our team is very young, but between the sophomores who didn't get to race last year and our very talented freshmen, we have a small but fast group of girls who work hard as a team as well as individually," says head coach Eliska Albrigtsen, "This very first victory, crowned with the GNAC award, is going to propel them towards even more focus and hopefully more success in this, so prayed for season."
 
As for Kendall Kramer, it only took one race for her to establish herself in the GNAC. Pulling out the victory was something to look forward to in the eyes of her coach, "Kendall, as our dual student-athlete, splitting time between cross country and skiing, was so anxious to get on the running race course, after not being able to compete on it last season. During the preseason camp, she was pushing her team and the men's team in every workout to make sure we opened the season strong and give the GNAC a taste of what they can expect from the Nanooks this year. She truly deserves to be named the first GNAC Women's XC Athlete of the Week this season."
 
Kramer became the first Nanooks runner to earn GNAC Athlete of the Week honors since 2010. 
 
Kramer and the rest of the Nanooks cross country running team will head to Anchorage next, and participate in the Seawolf Throwdown on Saturday, Sept. 4. 
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks cross country running teams, follow @Alaska_XC on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.