Video Preview with Coach Dunlap and Sieber
2012 NCAA CC West Region Championship Website (Hosted by Hawaii-Pacific University)
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Alaska Nanooks women's cross country team is competing in the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships being hosted by Hawaii Pacific University on Saturday at the Kahuku Golf Course in Kahuku, Hawaii.
The women's six-kilometer race begins at 11 a.m. AKDT (9 a.m. HT) and the top five team finishers in and the top three individuals not on one of the qualifying teams will travel to Joplin, Missouri, in two weeks for the NCAA II National Championships at Missouri Southern University.
Alaska's women are looking to bounce back from their Great Northwest Athletic Conference performance that saw them finish 8th out of 10 teams after championships two weeks ago. The Nanooks took eighth out of 10 teams at the league championships after finishing a program-best 4th in 2011. They went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time ever, with a surprising fourth-place finish at the 2011 West Region Championships.
"The team is at a different point this year than we were last year," said associate head coach Matt Dunlap. "We graduated or lost four of our seven runners from the 2011 team (that finished 4th at the same event a year ago) and we have some young women who haven't traveled very much, but we still feel that we can improve on our finish from two weeks ago."
"There are some teams that were ahead of us at the conference meet, who we feel we can compete against at a higher level," Dunlap said. "it's critical for us to bounce back from our perfomance at GNAC's."
Alaska Anchorage is the two-time defending regional champion in the women's divisions. Chico State had an eight-year reign as the men's champion end in 2011, finishing second. The Wildcat women also were the runner-up.
The Blue and Gold are led by junio Raphael Sieber and freshman
Julia Ebner. Sieber will run in the second West Region race of her career on Saturday. She crossed 35th (22:40) and third for the Nanooks in Spokane a year ago.
Junior Alyson McPheteres and her freshman sister Kryston are also making their second apperance at the West Region Championships as Alyson finished 132nd (24:35) and Kryston was 151st (25:32) in 2011. Alaska's only three-time participants is senior
Megan Thompson, who ran in the 2010 West Region Championships at Bellingham, when she finished 159th in 29:10 and the 2009 event in San Fransico, finishing 158th in 29:37.
Making their West Region debuts in Hawaii this weekend are freshmen
Julia Ebner,
Sara Falconer, and
Victoria Frehill.
"A lot can be gained from this weekend's race," Dunlap said. "We can end on a high point and use that to build momentum for next season."
