UAF Runners Open Season on Saturday

Submitted by scott wilson
Phone: (907) 474-6807
08/25/03

Despite having little time for preseason training, Bill McDonnell is confident about his team’s chances next weekend at the Interior Cross Country Championship. The University of Alaska Fairbanks mentor believes the Nanooks are ready to open their season on a high note.

"I’m pretty excited about the season. The kids came back in really good shape and I think they’re ready to have a good year," said McDonnell, who also coaches the nationally competitive Nanook skiing program. "We have three solid runners returning on the women’s team and the men’s team is young and talented."

Well, McDonnell will be able to see just how good his team has gotten this weekend, Saturday, August 30, at the Interior Cross Country Championship at the West Ridge Trails on the UAF campus. The women’s race, which will cover 5 kilometers, gets going at 10:45 a.m., while the men’s race, an 8K contest, will start at 12:15 p.m. A local high school meet will be run between the two collegiate competitions.

The meet, which is an open event, will be a good starting point to the season for the Nanooks as UAF will host the arch-rival Seawolves of the University of Alaska Anchorage and Slippery Rock (Pa.) University.

"This is the fifth year of the meet and I think it’s a really good collegiate competition," McDonnell said. "It’s one of the tougher meets we will have all year. A lot of events are run on golf courses or city parks. The trails we will run on Saturday make it a true cross country event."

The Nanooks will be led by defending champion Sigrid Aas, a senior from Alta, Norway. She will be joined by junior Diana Heimerl of Wasilla, AK and Johanna Turunen, a sophomore from Joensuu, Finland. Rookies Sigrid Lagerfelt, Kasandra Rice and Kyrnn Finstad will also play a factor this season for UAF. Lagerfelt came to UAF from Ostersund, Sweden, while Rice hails from Anchorage and Finstad is a native of Fairbanks.

Juraj Brugos of Levoca, Slovakia, will be asked to provide some key leadership on a very young UAF men’s team. The lone senior will be pushed this season by sophomores Jonas Tetlie, Erik Wickstrom, Brent Lowen, Kevin Walczak and Danny Slakey. Tetlie hails from Kabelvaag, Norway, while Wickstrom is a native of Boras, Sweden. Lowen, from Anchorage, chose the Nanooks over the Seawolves, while Walczak came to Fairbanks from Brooklyn Park, MN. Slakey moved north to UAF from his home in Sacramento, CA. The rookies on this year’s Nanook team are home grown Alaska products. Tyson Flaherty hails from Fairbanks, while Bart Dengel signed to run for UAF after a fine prep career in Valdez.

"The training has gone pretty well so far this season. I expect Sigrid (Aas) will be a contender for the win again this year and Johanna came back in great shape, so I can’t wait to see her compete. The women are where they need to be right now," said McDonnell. "Anchorage is really strong on the men’s side, and Slippery Rock is an unknown for us. We have several athletes that are in very competitive shape, and it will be good to see them run with Anchorage’s best. Juraj has managed to score a top five in the last two years, so hopefully he will continue that streak and combine with a couple of his teammates to put a few runners in the top 10."

Hoping to get a good read on his team this weekend, McDonnell is anxious to see how his runners perform. The Nanooks have been training on campus for only one week, however, the UAF mentor talks boldly of his teams’ chances.

"I would like to see our women win the meet and I think that’s very possible. I think we have three of the top six women in the event," said McDonnell. "The men’s division is a little different than the women. I would be happy if we put one of our men in the final top 5."