SOLDIER HOLLOW, Utah - The Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team is at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center for the 2022 NCAA Ski Championships.

Thursday and Saturday, March 10-12, 2022
Live Video Day One >> https://www.ncaa.com/event/4123
Live Video Day Two >> https://www.ncaa.com/event/4125
Women's Classic Timing >> https://bit.ly/3CqdRra
Women's Freestyle Timing >> https://bit.ly/3tGTIJv
Men's Classic Timing >> https://bit.ly/3pQS4DX
Men's Freestyle Timing >> https://bit.ly/3HSFTN9
Soldier Hollow, Utah, 7:30 a.m. AKT

Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team finished the RMISA Championships/NCAA West Regional in seventh-place, qualifying a full-team at the NCAA Championships for the first time under head coach Eliska Albrigtsen. 

On the final day at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Colo., the Nanooks were led by Mariel Pulles and Mike Ophoff. In the women's 15k freestyle, Pulles raced to a third-place finish with a time of 46:59.8 and 34 points. Kendall Kramer followed right behind, taking fourth-place with a time of 47:04.1 and 31 points. Rya Berrigan was the final scoring Nanooks racer, finishing 23rd for 14 points. She raced to a time of 54:45.4. 

Aila Berrigan and Sarah Olson rounded out the race for Alaska. Berrigan finished in 25th with a time of 56:15.6 while Olson followed in 26th with a time of 57:35.9.

In the men's 20k freestyle, the Nanooks were led by Ophoff, finishing in 12th-place with a time of 54:11.8 for 19 points. Close behind was Christopher Kalev in 14th-place. He followed 20 seconds behind, finishing in 54:31.6, earning 18 points. The final scorer for the Nanooks men's team was Lukash Platil, finishing in 23rd with a time of 57:10.7. Patrick Marbacher was the final racer for the men's team, finishing 30th with a time of 1:02:02.1.

Head coach Eliska Albrigtsen had this to say about her team this season, "Kendall and Mike provided very strong results, as usual. They are the core of our team with racing in all races this season! And Chris, I'm just so proud of, he had a rough year having constant classroom/practice time conflict, so I basically had him at workouts only on the weekends...I'm sad to send the rest of the team that won't race at NCAA's home now. They have been the best 'supportive players' to the team. Our team just has the best atmosphere, they are all there for each other and every day and it shows! I'm especially sad to say goodbye to my three seniors, Luk, Rya and Patrick, who just finished their last collegiate races. I hope my team learned a lot from them, they have been that solid piece I can always rely on."

Quick Hitters

• The Alaska Nanooks had three All-RMISA selection; Mariel Pulles (First-Team), Kendall Kramer (Second) and Joe Davies (Second)
• This is the first full team the Nanooks have sent to NCAA's under the head coaching of Eliska Albrigtsen.
• Kramer and Pulles are looking for another strong performance at NCAA's. Pulles, the Estonian sophomore, was a two-time All-American a year ago. She was a First-Team All-American in Freestyle and a Second-Team All-American in Classic. 
• Kramer was a Freestyle Second-Team All-American. 
• The third women's team member heading to NCAA's is Rosie Fordham. Fordham spent the past few weeks in Lygna, Norway competing for Team Australia at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships. She took 64th in the 1.2km freestyle, 52nd in the 5km classic and 30th in the 15km freestyle mass start. 
• On the men's side, the Nanooks sent Joe Davies, Christopher Kalev and Mike Ophoff. 
• Davies also joins the Nanooks after competing for Team Canada at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships. While at Championships, Davies took 65th in the 1.2km freestyle and 35th in the 15km classic.
• Mike Ophoff raced in 10 RMISA events for the blue and gold this season, posting his best finishes on Jan. 6-7 at the Utah Invitational and RMISA Qualifier. On Jan. 6 he raced to an eighth-place finish in the men's 15km classic with a time of 42:01.5. The following day he raced to a seventh-place finish in the men's classsic sprint.
• Christopher Kalev appeared in eight races this season for Alaska. That featured three top-10 finishes. His first came at the Utah Invitational with a seventh-place finish. He then went eighth and ninth at the Nanooks Invite and RMISA Championships, respectively. 

All-Conference Honors
Joe Davies was named a Second-Team All-RMISA Nordic skier during his freshman season with the Alaska Nanooks. Davies, who hails from Pemberton, B.C., had early success in his career in the blue and gold. He appeared in four RMISA races in the 2021-22 regular-season. In two classic races, he finished with a pair of top-10 finishes and one top-five finish. His top-five finish came at the Alaska Nanooks hosted RMISA event on Feb. 1. In the 5k classic, Davies finished fifth with a time of 13:46.2. In two freestyle races this season, Davies finished with a pair of top-five finishes, finishing fifth at the Montana State Invitational 10k freestyle and fourth at the Alaska Nanooks RMISA Invite. 

Mariel Pulles was named a First-Team All-RMISA Nordic skier, the lone first-teamer for the Nanooks this season. Pulles, a sophomore from Otepaa, Estonia, has seen time in five RMISA races this season for the Nanooks. She has raced in two classic races, finishing both in the top-five. Her best classic finish came at the Montana State Invitational in a 10k, placing fourth with a time of 32:16.5. She took fifth at the RMISA Championships in a 5k, posting a time of 15:50.9. In three freestyle races this season, Pulles has raced to a top-five finish in all, including two podium finishes. Her two podium finishes came at the Utah Invitational on Jan. 2, when she finished a freestyle sprint in second place before reaching the podium at the RMISA Championships with a third-place finish in the women's 15k freestyle. She raced to a time of 46:59.8.

Finally, Kendall Kramer was named a Second-Team All-RMISA Nordic skier. The freshman has raced in 10 RMISA races for the blue and gold, five classic and five freestyle. In classic, Kramer finished with five top-10 finishes, her best coming at the RMISA Championships, a seventh-place finish in a 5k in a time of 16:01.7. In freestyle, Kramer was dominant down the final stretch of the year, earning back-to-back podium finishes at the Alaska Nanook Invitational and RMISA Invitational at Besh Cup, before finishing with a fourth-place finish in the 15k freestyle at RMISA Championships. Her first podium finish was in the women's 10k freestyle; she finished second with a time of 47:39.4. Her second was in the women's 5k freestyle and was a third-place finish in 14:56.6.

RMISA Standings
The Nanooks Nordic ski team ended the 2022 RMISA regular-season in seventh-place. In the men's Nordic standings, the men's team finished in fifth-place with 449 points. The women's team finished in third-place, posting 547 points on the season. 

NCAA Schedule
Both Alpine and Nordic will race this week. Alaska will compete on Thursday, March 10 and Saturday, March 12 in the Nordic events. On Thursday, the Nanooks will race in the classic and on Saturday, they will compete in the freestyle race. 

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team, follow @NanooksSkiing on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team on Facebook.