ANCHORAGE, Alaska - It was a massive day for the Nanooks Nordic skiing team to close out the 2025 RMISA Championships on Saturday. A trio of Nanooks finished on the podium, while Philipp Moosmayer secured his first collegiate victory in the 20k freestyle mass start. Alaska ended day two of the championships in third place in the Nordic standings, tallying 307 points over the two days. Ben Dohlby picked up his second podium this week, taking third in the race, while Kendall Kramer placed second in the women's race.
Moosmayer began his race by posting the ninth-fastest time on the opening lap and crossed the 10k checkpoint in 10th place with a time of 26:04.3. He would slowly make up ground, recording the seventh-fastest time of the fourth lap before logging the third and fourth-fastest times on the final two laps, setting himself up for a photo finish with Colorado's Hugo Hinckfuss, nabbing the top spot by 0.2 seconds. Moosmayer finished his race in 51:00.1 to grab his first career podium and victory.
Dohlby nearly made it a 1-2 finish for the 'Nooks, coming in just 0.1 seconds behind Hinckfuss and 0.3 seconds behind Moosmayer. Like his teammate, he started his race slowly, ending the first lap in 13th place. He would work his way up the field over the next two laps, posting a 10k split of 26:03.9 to put himself in sixth place after the first half of the race. He used the fifth and third-fastest times on the final two laps to put himself alongside the top two finishers, securing another podium after his victory in the 10k freestyle earlier this week at the UAF Invite.
Crossing the line next for the 'Nooks was Gabriele Rigaudo, who followed up his 16th-place finish in yesterday's 7.5k classic with a 15th-place result today, posting a time of 51:59.1 to claim his fourth top-20 finish in Alaska's last four races. Also in the top 20 was Blake Hanley, who came in two spots behind Rigaudo for a 17th-place result, completing his race in 52:41.0
Other finishers for the Nanooks were Cole Flowers (21st, 53:08.8), Aidan Hay (26th, 54:09.4), Matyas Pavek (29th, 54:25.4) and Josh Baurick (30th, 54:25.6).
The men tied for first in the Nordic standings over the two days, tallying 157 points to put them level with Colorado and Utah.
Kramer and Utah's Erica Laven were in a race of their own at the front of the pack, with Kramer just losing out in the sprint finish. After Kramer led the first half of the race by 0.4 seconds, it was neck and neck for the remainder of the race, with neither skier posting a lap time more than 0.6 seconds faster than the other. However, Kramer would just lose out, finishing in 55:28.3, just 0.4 seconds off of first place. This gives Kramer her sixth podium result of the season.
Tabitha Williams picked up another great result, earning her third straight top-10 finish after placing sixth. Williams led the chase pack for much of the last two laps but could not quite hold on for third, dropping to sixth with a final time of 57:19.2.
Aila Berrigan rounded things off for the Nanooks, skiing to a 26th-place finish with a 1:05:49.0.
The women took third in the Nordic standings, collecting 150 points.
"It's clear we're coming into peak form at the right time with some big individual and team performances here at the end of the regular season," said assistant coach Ben Buck. "With less than two weeks to NCAAs, we hope to carry confidence and good health with us to the championship at Dartmouth!"
Final RMISA Championship Nordic Team Standings
Utah 339, Colorado 308, Alaska 307, Denver 276, UAA 233, MSU 175
Final Men's Nordic Standings
Alaska 157, Colorado 157, Utah 157, Denver 140, UAA 131, MSU 71
Final Women's Nordic Standings
Utah 182, Colorado 151, Alaska 150, Denver 136, MSU 104, UAA 102
Up Next
The Nordic skiing season concludes in Hanover, N.H., with the NCAA Championships. Day one will be a 7.5k classic individual start on Thursday, March 6, and day two will be a 20k freestyle mass start on Saturday, March 8.
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