Freestyle Results (PDF)
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - The Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team grabbed four All-American honors and an individual national championship on day two of the NCAA Skiing Championships (day one of Nordic). After two days, Alaska finds themselves in fifth-place in the standings with 150 total points.
The 150 total points, all from Nordic events, makes them the top Nordic team at NCAA's after the first event and second day. They currently sit two points ahead of Utah (148) and 10 points ahead of Colorado (140).Â
The men's team started the day with a 10k freestyle race at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y. The day belonged to Joe Davies, the sophomore from Canmore, Alta., as he won the individual national title with a finishing time of 22:33.2, winning by 25 seconds. Davies opened up with a 1.25k time of 3:14.2, the second-best time in the opening 1.25k behind only teammate, Mike Ophoff (3:00.5). After crossing the midway 5k checkpoint, Davies was at a time of 10:57.2 and was leading by nearly 20 seconds. His lead stuck through to the end as he'd grab the win and take the top-place on the podium. With the win in the NCAA Ski Championships 10k Freestyle, Davies became the first men's racer to win a freestyle national championship and the first Nanooks individual champion since 2008 when Marius Korthauer won the 20k classic championship.Â
Joining Davies in the top-five was Mike Ophoff in fifth-place as the two earned First Team All-American honors in the freestyle race. Ophoff took fifth with a time of 23:39.0 for 29 team points. He opened the first 1.25k with a first-place time of 3:00.5 before checking in in sixth-place at the 6.25k checkpoint with a time of 15:15.4 before bumping up one place for the fifth-place finish. Christopher Kalev was the final Nanook to cross the finish line, taking 16th-place with a finishing time of 24:19.8, trailing Davies' winning time by 1:46.6. Kalev's finish wrapped up the scoring for the Nanooks as he earned 15 points.Â
The men's team finished day one with 84 points, the most by a Nordic men's team. Denver followed in the men's Nordic standings with 83 points and Utah sits in third with 60 points.Â
The women's team followed the men with a 5k freestyle at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y. and Mariel Pulles and Kendall Kramer pulled out two Second Team All-American runs as Pulles placed sixth and Kramer followed in seventh, finishing only nine seconds apart. Pulles pushed through the finish line with a time of 13:08.2, trailing Novie McCabe of Utah by 21.9 seconds, who won the 5k race with a time of 12:46.3. With Pulles placing sixth, the Nanooks earned 27 team points. Kramer followed right behind Pulles with a finishing time of 13:17.8, finishing 31.5 behind McCabe's winning time. Her seventh-place finish was good for 25 team points and rounded-out the All-American honors for Alaska on day one of the Nordic ski portion of the NCAA Championships.Â
Rosie Fordham was the final Nanooks scorer, placing 17th-place with a time of 13:43.8 and earning 14 points for the women's team. The women's team finished day one of Nordic races with 66 points, good for third, trailing Utah with 88 and Colorado with 85.Â
Head coach Eliska Albrigtsen was proud of her team's efforts on day one of the Nordic races, "This is a moment that has been in the making for five years. We've put in the hard work and we've seen our team rise to the top to be one of the best programs in the nation. Today's results are hard proof! It's a dream come true and it's a feeling that can't be put to words. Even knowing the quality of our skiers, there's always the chance that we as coaches miss the wax. It's a lot of pressure and we're just happy that the 12 hours we put in at the venue yesterday testing and preparing for today's race paid off."
The Nanooks will be off tomorrow as Alpine finishes up before competing in the Classic race on Saturday, March 11.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Nordic ski team, follow @NanookSkiing on Instagram, @NanooksSki on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.
