BELLINGHAM - The Alaska Nanooks cross country teams return to action on Saturday, Sept. 23, for the Bill Roe Classic hosted by Western Washington University.
Bill Roe Classic
The Nanooks women will begin the racing with a 6k at 9 a.m., and the men follow after with an 8k at 9:45 a.m. The Nanooks will be competing against runners from UAA, Simon Fraser, Saint Martin's, Central Washington, Seattle Pacific, Hawai'i-Hilo, University of Victoria and Trinity Western.
Last Time Out
The Nanooks completed their home opener racing in Fairbanks on Saturday, Sept. 9, in the Nanook Forest Clash. Kendall Kramer, Naomi Bailey and Delainey Zock swept the top-three finishes on the women's side. Tabitha Williams took fourth in her home debut, Teegan Silva took sixth and Aila Berrigan, Abigail Haas and Isabel Baesman took 13th, 14th and 15th. The Nanook Forest Clash was Baesman's home debut as well.
On the men's side, Mike Ophoff was the top finisher, taking fourth with a time of 26:40. Finn Morley, Philipp Moosmayer, Jace Peters, Koen Ross, Kona Atkins, Josh Baurick, Ryan Owens and Nolan Earnest rounded out the Nanooks' scoring, taking seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th with times of 26:52, 27:20, 27:55, 28:27, 29:05, 29:07, 29:36 and 30:33, respectively.
GNAC Preseason Poll
Both Nanooks teams are looking at surpassing the GNAC Coaches Poll that came out on Aug. 24; the men's team was selected to finish 10th in the GNAC, while the Nanooks women's team was picked fourth. Read more on the Preseason Coaches Poll here.
GNAC Runners of the Week
On Aug. 28th, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) announced their first GNAC Cross Country Athletes of the Week. Nanooks' Rosie Fordham was named the GNAC XC Female Athlete of the Week.
Fordham kicked off the Nanooks' cross country season with a bang, claiming first at the Seawolf Throwdown in Anchorage on Saturday, Aug. 26. She posted a winning time of 18:10.5 in the 5k race, leading the Nanooks to the head-to-head win over UAA.
This was Fordham's first career GNAC Weekly Award and is the Nanooks' fifth XC Weekly Award since the start of the 2021 season.
Looking Ahead
Following the Bill Roe Classic, the Nanooks will head to San Francisco, Cali. in the Lower-48 for the SFS Invite on Saturday, Oct. 6th.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks cross-country teams, follow @NanooksXC on Instagram or X, or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.
