March 4, 2008

Complete Alaska Nanooks NCAA Skiing Notes

- Alaska has qualified a full team for the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row. Last season, the Nanooks finished fifth on Nordic points alone, and tenth overall: the Blue and Gold's fourth top-ten finish at the national championships despite the lack of an alpine team.

- After grabbing a silver medal in the 10K classic as a sophomore and taking two bronze medals in the classic and skate races at NCAA's last year, Alaska's Marius Korthauer will be hoping to top the podium and claim a national championship trophy at this year's event. Korthauer has finished as the top collegiate skier in eight of the ten events he has entered for the Nanooks this season.

- Three different Alaska skiers claimed four All-American honors at last season's NCAA Championships. Marius Korthauer completed the double, taking home first-team honors in both Nordic races, while sister Aurelia Korthauer grabbed first-team honors for her fifth-place finish in the women's 15K classic. Julia Coulter, twin sister of Anna, earned second-team honors with her ninth-place finish in the 10K skate.

- Between the two of them, Alaska's brother/sister combo of Marius and Aurelia Korthauer would combine for 10 victories, four runner-up spots, sixteen podiums, and eighteen top-five finishes between them this season.

- This year's crop of Nanooks will be looking to add to the school's already-impressive record at the NCAA Championships. Alaska has already claimed two individual national championships, both won by Sigrid Aas in the 5K skate and 15K classic races in 2004, and has earned 19 All-American awards since 2002.

- In addition to turning in another outstanding season for the Nanooks, Vahur Teppan was called to represent his native Estonia at the World Cup races in Alberta, Canada on Jan. 22-26. Teppan competed for his country in both the classical and freestyle sprint races, capturing a quarterfinal berth and 19th-place overall in the classic sprint: Estonia's highest finish of the Alberta World Cup.