STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. - The Alaska Nanooks ski team finished their time at the 2024 NCAA Skiing Championships. The 175 total points gave the 'Nooks a ninth-place finish in the overall standings and a sixth-place finish in the Nordic standings. 

Alaska was led by the women's team on Saturday, March 9 as they picked up 53 points. They were led by a pair of All-American performances by Kendall Kramer and Mariel Pulles. Kramer led the way in the 20k classic race, taking sixth-place while Pulles followed behind in eighth-place. The top-10 finishes earned them both Second Team All-American finishes. Kramer wrapped up her 20k race in 1:02:51.5. At the 5k checkpoint, she was at 5:25.5. At the 10k checkpoint, she was at 31:08.9, trailing the leader at the time by four seconds. The race stayed close through the 15k checkpoint and the finish-line. She was within two seconds at the final checkpoint and finished only 13 seconds behind the winner (1:02:38.2). Kramer also finished .4 behind the fifth-place finisher.

Pulles finished in eighth-place, only two places behind Kramer. She crossed the finish line in 1:03:42.8, trailing Kramer by 51 seconds and finishing just over a minute behind the winning time. Pulles came through the 5k checkpoint at the same time as her teammate, Kramer, at 5:25.5 before a 10k time of 31:22.8. At the 15k mark, Pulles was at 47:36.2 before finishing strong through the line. Rosie Fordham was the final racer for Alaska. She came through the finish line of the 20k in 1:07:52.9 for a 28th-place finish. Through the opening 5k, Fordham was at 16:05.7 before a 10k time of 33:04.2. Before crossing the finish-line, Fordham pushed through the 15k checkpoint at 50:16.9. 

The finishes earned the 'Nooks 53 points and gave the women's team 98 team points on the weekend. 

The men's team also raced in a 20k classic. Alaska picked up 50 points from the men's team on Saturday. The Nanooks men's team was led by Mike Ophoff in 12th-place. Ophoff's finishing time was 57:06.0. He came through the 5k checkpoint in 13:36.6 before passing through the 10k mark at 27:54.6. At the 15k mark, Ophoff came through at 42:31.0 - his 57:06.0 finish had him 15 seconds behind the top-10. Christopher Kalev pushed through the finish-line in 57:46.0 to earn the second scoring placement for the Nanooks. He finished two spots behind Ophoff in 14th-place. He came through the 5k checkpoint six seconds behind Ophoff before coming through the 10k at 28:27.6. Kalev eventually finished 40 seconds behind Ophoff. 

The final Nanooks racer to finish was Ben Dohlby, cracking the top-20 and taking 17th-place with a finishing time of 58:20.1. After a 13:57.9 5k time, he came through the 10k mark at 28:44.2. Dohlby went on to finish strong, coming in 34 seconds behind Kalev. The men's 50 points gave Alaska 103 total points on the day and gave them 77 total points on the weekend. 

Colorado grabbed the national title with Utah taking second and Denver taking third. 

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