FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's cross country teams open their 2012 competitive schedule later this week, when they host the Seattle Pacific Falcons and the Black Hill State Yellow Jackets on Thursday, August 30 and Saturday, September 1 for the Alaska Cross Country Invitational.
Alaska's women were ranked eighth in the West Region on the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Division II Preseason Poll announced on Monday, while SPU's women's team was ranked sixth and the lady Yellow Jackets were eighth in the South Central Region.
In the men's poll, SPU ranked seventh in the West Region and BHS was eighth in the South Central, while the Nanook men were unranked.
“Both of our visiting teams are ranked so that's a good test for our athletes and our team,” said interim head coach Matt Dunlap. “Having home races against good teams, especially ones that are in our conference and region, is important and a good experience builder for our younger runners.”
Alaska's women are coming off a historic 2011 campaign that saw them qualify a team for NCAA's for the first time in program history. According to Dunlap, the accomplishment opened the eyes of several runners, building confidence and inspiration.
“Our women are very motivated after last year,” he said. “Although we have holes to fill (with All-Region performers
Theresia Schnurr and
Crystal Pitney having exhausted their running eligibility), we've added some strong runner; the women we have are very strong and if they can run the way they want to run they will have another solid season.”
Senior
Heather Edic, juniors
Raphaela Sieber and
Alyson McPhetres, and sophomore
Kryston McPhetres returns with championship experience under their belts. Also looking to battle for scoring positions are are rookies
Julia Ebner and
Sara Falconer.
For Alaska's men, they boast one of the deepest rosters under ninth-year head coach and interim athletic director
Scott Jerome.
“We have a lot more depth than we've had in a while, with eight or nine guys who could score points in these races for us over the two days combined,” Dunlap added.
“It's early in the season and our guys have been working and training really hard; we have some younger athletes on both squads who've never raced like this before so it will be good for them to experience these races and get their first six or eight-K out of the way.”
Senior Tyler Kornfield, and juniors Andrew Arnold and Tux Seims are among Alaska's top returning men as well as redshirt senior and two-time skiing All-American Lex Treinen.
Adding to the depth chart on the men's side are a pair of freshmen – Isaac Lammers and John Klein – whose 3k time trial proved to the Alaska coaching staff that they did their summer workouts.
“It will be fun to see what they can do in their first 8K,” Dunlap said.
Other contributions could come from their veteran corps composed of Lars Arneson, Kenny Brewer, Jonas Löffler and redshirt freshman Ross MacDougal.
A few of the other newcomers could also look to compete for a spot on the scoring team with junior Max Olex and freshmen Nick Farrell and Michael Fehrenbach.
The trio of teams will take to the trails on Thursday evening for a pair of long-course races. The women's 6K event begins at 5:30 p.m. on the West Ridge Trails located on UAF's campus. The men's teams follow at 6:15 p.m. with their 8K race.
On Saturday, they hit the dirt again, each running a shorter 4k course. The men go first at 10 a.m., followed by the women's event at 10:30 a.m.
