Four Nanook skiers qualify for championships

February 26, 2019

University Relations

On Tuesday, the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Skiing Committee announced the 74 men and 74 women selected to participate in the 2019 National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Skiing Championships Mar. 6 and 8 at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. This year’s national championships are hosted by the University of Vermont Catamounts.

The Alaska Nanooks men’s Nordic ski team qualified two individuals, including senior Max Donaldson and redshirt-senior Seiji Takagi, while the Alaska women’s Nordic ski team also qualified two individuals, including sophomore Anja Maijala and senior Kati Roivas. It will be Donaldson’s third appearance at the Big Dance, Roivas and Takagi’s second and Maijala’s NCAA Championship debut.

After an impressive showing at the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Conference Championships and NCAA West Regional Championships in Anchorage last week, 20 West Region men and 20 West Region women were selected to participate in the Nordic discipline at the national championships.

According to the NCAA press release, “Participants are selected on a regional basis from two designated regions for Alpine skiing (East and West Regions) and three designated regions for Nordic skiing (Central, East and West Regions). Bids are awarded to regions using a formula determined by the skiing committee. A maximum of 12 student-athletes (three per gender, per discipline) may participate from an institution.”

The Alaska Nanooks men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams will be competing in the 10/5km individual-start, freestyle race on Wednesday, March 6 before participating in the 20/15km mass-start, classic race on Friday, March 8. The men will kick things off on Wednesday at 6 a.m. Alaska time, while the women are first on Saturday beginning at 6 a.m. Alaska time.

The 2019 NCAA Skiing National Championships will be livestreamed.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men’s and women’s Nordic ski teams, follow @AlaskaNanooksXC on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks XC team page on Facebook.