SOLDIER HOLLOW, Utah - The Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team currently sits in sixth-place after day two of the NCAA Ski Championships and day one of the Nordic ski events. The men's team currently sits tied for first with Denver in the men's category, scoring 76 points. The women are in sixth in their category, scoring 32 points.
To start the morning, the women raced in the 5k classic interval start.
Mariel Pulles was the first Nanook to cross the finish line, bringing home an 11th-place finish and a time of 14:19.2 for 20 team points.
Kendall Kramer was the second Alaska finisher, taking 19th-place and coming across the line 15 seconds behind Pulles with a time of 14:34.1. With her finish, the Nanooks earned 12 points.
Rosie Fordham was the final Nanook to cross the line, finishing in 33rd with a time of 15:30.3. "Our women fought so hard today and stayed very strong the whole race despite the fact that they've been unfortunately handed very slick skies. Mariel's 11th-place was the highlight of the power of will, beating the challenging technicalities of classic ski racing." said head coach
Eliska Albrigtsen after her women's 5k classic.
In the men's 10k classic, the Nanooks walked away with two First-Team All-Americans in
Christopher Kalevand
Mike Ophoff. Kalev led the way for Alaska, racing to a fourth-place finish and a time of 24:08.3 for 31 team points. Just behind in fifth-place was Ophoff. He crossed the finish line in 24:25.6 for 29 team points and an All-American honor. Freshman
Joe Davies rounded out the trio of Nanooks, finishing in 15th-place with a time of 25:11.1 for 16 team points. With the 76 combined points on the men's side, they currently sit tied for first with Denver in the men's Nordic category. Albrigtsen commented on the top-two finishers' pace and how well they handled their tempo, "They are all experienced racers, so I just trusted them and gave them all the encouragement I could on the trail. All three men finished in the top-15, two First-Team All-Americans, putting us in first as a men's team, it's a dream!"
The Nanooks will be back in action on Saturday, March 12 with a freestyle race.
Albrigtsen is excited to see what comes this weekend to end the NCAA Championships, "I cannot wait to see everyone fighting for the 'Nooks in Saturday's skate mass start. I know everyone is in great shape, and without challenging kicking conditions, which made today's results somewhat bittersweet, we will be up for any race challenge that the 15k and 20k mass start can bring! Finally, thank you to all of the fans and supporters from Alaska and the rest of the world! We feel your Nanook love down here and it pushes us forward!"
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team, follow @NanookSkiing on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.
