McPhetres notches career best sprint finish at U.S. Nationals
January 3, 2013
Jamie Foland
474-6807
Junior Alyson McPhetres (Chugiak, AK/Spanish and Geological Engineering) landed her career best sprint finish on Wednesday at the U.S. Cross Country Skiing National Championships in Midway, Utah. Sophomore Logan Hanneman (Fairbanks, AK/Mechanical Engineering) was the top finisher on the day for the Alaska Nanooks as the lone skier to advance past the qualifying round.
For the women's team senior Marit Rjabov (Voru, Estonia/Psychology) was the top finisher, taking 33rd overall in three minutes and 40.41 seconds. McPhetres (Chugiak, AK/Spanish and Geological Engineering) followed in 34th with her best career sprint race at the national championship event, finishing the 1.3 km course on the heels of her teammate in 3:40.81.
"Aly McPhetres had her best sprint race at Nationals, which showed her training is working and that she's really fit," Jerome said. "It's a good sign for her and the season to come."
Alaska's only other skier represented in the qualifying heat was senior Theresia Schnurr (60th/Buhlertal, Germany/Biochemistry).
Hanneman landed a top-20 finish in the 1.3-kilometer race, completing the short course in in two minutes, 57.99 seconds: good for a berth to the first quarterfinal heat, where he finished his day on the trails with a fourth place finish.
"It was an okay day for us," said head coach Scott Jerome. "Logan qualified 20th in his first race) and was having a good quarterfinal but made a tactical error on the final downhill and didn't get in good position to finish first or second."
Also representing the Nanooks in the men's qualifying race were seniors Tyler Kornfield (42nd/Anchorage, AK/Mechanical Engineering) and Lex Treinen (68th/Anchorage, AK/Northern Studies), sophomore Andrew Arnold (85th/Anchorage, AK/Chemistry), freshman Stefan Hajdukovich (86th/Fairbanks, AK/Biological Sciences) and sophomore Kenneth Brewer (131st/Chugiak, AK/Biological Sciences).
Hajdukovich qualified 20th among the junior racers and advanced to the fifth junior quarterfinal heat where he took second and moved onto the semifinals. In the semi's he took fourth earning a spot in the "B" final and ended up third in that race, good for ninth among the junior racers on the day.
The competition in Soldier Hollow continues on Friday, Jan. 4 with the first of two distance events, also the Nanooks first Central Collegiate Ski Association race of the season. The women open the day with their 10 km individual start freestyle race beginning at 10 a.m. MST (8 a.m. AKT), followed by the men's 15 km race at 12 p.m. MST (10 a.m. AKT).
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