BOZEMAN, Mont. - The Nanooks ski team wrapped up the 2024 RMISA Championships at Crosscut Mountain Sports Complex on Sunday, Feb. 25. Alaska finished with 262 points, good for sixth-overall and fourth in the Nordic standings. 

The men's and women's teams competed in a 20k classic to wrap-up this year's championships. 

The men started the day with a 7:30 a.m. AKST start. They were led by the high-finisher on the day, Mike Ophoff, who found his way to the podium with a third-place finish. He finished the 20k in 56:06.3, finishing just under a minute behind the winner and 18 seconds behind the second-place finisher. His third-place finish earned 34 points for the Nanooks. Joining Ophoff in the top-10, and nearly joining him in the top-five, was Christopher Kalev. He took sixth-overall, finishing the 20k in 56:48.8, missing out on a top-five finish by only two seconds. His finish earned the 'Nooks 27 points. 

Ben Dohlby was the final scoring Nanooks men's racer, taking 21st-place with a time of 1:00.33.0; he earned 13 points for the Nanooks and gave them 74 points total in the men's standings. Aidan Hay and Josh Baurick followed right behind Dohlby, finishing in 22nd and 23rd-place. Hay was 15 seconds behind Dohlby, posting a time of 1:00:48.6 and Baurick was another 11 seconds behind, finishing in 1:00:59.4. 

The 74 points by the Nanooks men's team was fourth-best on day two and gave them 119 points on the weekend, good for fourth in the final men's Nordic standings. 

In the women's race, the Nanooks were led by Kendall Kramer, who finished seventh with a time of 1:15:23.7. Kramer was only 23.7 seconds behind the winning time and among the top-10 that saw all racers finish within 37 seconds of each other. Kramer's seventh-place finish earned the Nanooks 25 points. Rosie Fordham was the second finishing Nanooks women's racer, taking 13th-place with a 1:16:51.3 and earning 19 points for Alaska. Mariel Pulles was the final racer to score points for the 'Nooks as the senior posted a 19th-place finish in 1:18:12.0 for 15 points. 

No other women's racers started/finished the 20k classic.

Alaska's 59 points on the day was third-best in the women's Nordic standings and gave them 143 points on the weekend, good for the third-most in the final women's Nordic standings. 

The Nanooks now look forward to the NCAA Ski Championships the second week of March. 

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