FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The No. 19 Alaska Nanooks women's cross country team is set to race in the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship for the first time in program history on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. in Spokane, Wash.
The NCAA D-II Cross Country National Championship will be web-streamed live at
ncaa.com. The women's six kilometer race starts at 10 a.m. AKT, followed by the men's 10k at 11 a.m. AKT.
Representing the Blue and Gold are seniors
Theresia Schnurr,
Crystal Pitney and
Jana Benedix, who will race in the final event of their careers on Saturday, along with juniors
Raphaela Sieber and
Heather Edic, sophomore
Alyson McPhetres and freshman
Kryston McPhetres.
Schnurr and Pitney were 10th and 25th, respectively, at the West Region Championships two weeks ago and earned US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region for finishing among the top-25. While they were the front runners, the rest of Alaska's runners improved course times and passed competitors at various points in the race to contribute to their seven-point edge over Cal Poly Pomona and secure the fourth and final berth to Nationals.
Following that performance, Alaska debuted on the final USTFCCCA Division II Poll at No.19, but head into tomorrow's 24-team event looking to improve upon that ranking.
“We're ranked 19th out of 24 teams and I think we can place higher than that if the girls run smart, run well and run the way they are capable of running,” said assistant coach Matt Dunlap.
As was the case for the West Region Championships, the weather forecast for Saturday - calling for high of 26 degrees farenheit with a 40 percent chance of snow - should provide a competitive advantage for the Blue and Gold. They are likely to be better assimilated to the race time conditions as compared to teams traveling from warmer states in the Lower 48 such as Florida, Arizona and California. It also resembles conditions the Nanooks have trained in most of the year. Despite the current cold snap, Coach Dunlap says it has had little effect on the women's training over the past week.
“We dress warm and run outside and do interval work indoors,” he said. “The seven women who will run Saturday are very well prepared. They have been able to get in their training even with the temperatures in the negative numbers.”
In addition to the live video stream on ncaa.com, fans can follow the action via live race updates on the
AlaskaNanooksXC Twitter feed and
AlaskaNanooksXC Facebook pages.
