MIDWAY, Utah - Rosie Fordham left little doubt in Thursday's 7.5k classic interval start race at the NCAA Championships, leading the pack by 1:03 to become national champion for the first time in her collegiate career in a dominant showing.
The Nanooks took fifth in the classic, posting 93.5 points as a squad. The men finished their race in seventh with 41.5 points, while the women placed fourth with 52 points.
"What can I say about today?" said interim head coach Ben Buck. "It's a huge result for us, with our third individual national champion in four years."
The day began with the men's classic race, with the duo of Ben Dohlby and Philipp Moosmayer skiing together for the second-straight year at the NCAA championships, while Blake Hanley made his NCAAs debut. Moosmayer led the way with an 11th-place result, finishing his race in 19:14.2, just 1.6 seconds outside of a top-10 and All-American placement. Hanley followed in 19th, crossing the line in 19:48.4, and Dohlby rounded things out for the men, tying for 21st after posting a 20:01.5.
"The men's race was a tight one with fast, icy conditions in the morning," said Buck. "Our guys raced well, with Philipp (Moosmayer), Blake (Hanley), and Ben (Dohlby) each just missing out on the top-10, top-15, and top-20, respectively. I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do in the 20k freestyle on Saturday!"
Fordham ended the first lap of her race trailing DU's Eve-Ondine Duchaufour by two seconds, but built a 22 second lead at the 5k checkpoint. She kept the foot on the gas for the rest of the race, increasing her advantage to 63 seconds at the end of the race to run away with it. She posted a 24:08.0 to give the 'Nooks their second national champion in as many years. Viktorie Kahounova was the other Nanook in the women's race, making her NCAA championship debut. The first-year 'Nook crossed the finish line in 28:51.2 to secure 19th place.
"Viky (Kahounova) was excellent in her NCAA debut, fighting through the warmest and slowest conditions at the tail end of the start list to secure a top-20 finish," Buck added. "Rosie stole the show today, though, with an absolutely dominant performance, winning by over a minute against some very strong competition! She skied with poise and confidence and a determination that no other skier could match today. She said last spring that she wanted to win this race, and we've been working on her classic technique all year, so it's very gratifying to see all her hard work pay off."
The Nanooks are back in action on Saturday, skiing in the 20k freestyle mass start in their final races of the season.
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