Nanook skiers ranked 10th in pre-season poll

Submitted by Dave Geringer
Phone: (907) 474-6807
12/14/04

The University of Alaska Fairbanks cross-country skiing team has received some pre-season recognition.

The Nanooks are ranked 10th in the pre-season NCAA Collegiate Rankings by Ski Racing magazine of Boulder, Colo.

UAF’s pre-season rankings equal its best finish ever at the NCAA Skiing Championships. The Nanooks finished 10th in 1981, 1987 and 2004.

Utah is ranked first in the pre-season poll, followed by Denver, defending champion New Mexico, Colorado and Vermont. Alaska Anchorage, Middlebury, Dartmouth and Nevada are ranked sixth through ninth.

"It"sØs nice for us to receive some recognition, especially with the strong showing that our team had last year," said UAF Head Coach Scott Jerome. "A lot of it is based on last year"sØs results and the season we had last year, and the ranking says a lot about how the program has done for the past couple of years and a lot about the expectations for the season this year. We know that we have the ability to be up there, so we"sØre looking forward to seeing what we can do."

UAF is the only team ranked in the top ten that has only a Nordic program. The Nanooks will begin their season at the Collegiate Cup at the United States National Championships January 3rd through the 10th in Heber City, Utah.