Hanneman paces Nanooks at U.S. Nationals
January 7, 2013
Jamie Foland
474-6807
For the second time in three days sophomore Logan Hanneman (Fairbanks, Alaska/Mechanical Engineering) was the top finisher for the Alaska Nanooks at the U.S. Cross Country National Championships at Soldier Hollow. Hanneman was also fourth best among his Central Collegiate Ski Association foes in Friday morning's distance event.
The Fairbanks native completed the men's 15-kilometer interval start freestyle race in 39:43.3. Rounding out Alaska's top-three finishers were seniors Tyler Kornfield (Anchorage, Alaska/Mechanical Engineering) and Lex Treinen (Anchorage, Alaska/Northern Studies), who finished just two seconds apart in 45th (40:10.7) and 46th (40:12.7) overall and fourth and fifth regionally, respectively.
"The guys raced okay today and Logan was our top guy again," said head coach Scott Jerome. "He had a strong first lap and then dropped off a bit after that but we still landed six guys in the top 10 in our region so its good in terms of getting some points for NCAA qualification later in the season."
Also earning a top-10 regional finish were junior Max Olex (Aalen, Germany/Northern Studies) in 41:12.9 (67th overall, 8th CCSA), sophomore Michael Fehrenbach (Saint Märgen, Germany/Mechanical Engineering) in 41:18.0 (73rd, 9th) and freshman Stefan Hajdukovich (Fairbanks, Alaska/Biological Sciences) in 41:25.6 (80th, 10th).
Rookie Kenneth Brewer (Chugiak, Alaska/Biological Sciences), and sophomores Jonas Löffler (Saint Märgen, Germany/Business) and Andrew Arnold (Anchorage, Alaska/Chemistry) also raced in the first of the two distance events being held in Midway this week. Brewer finished 95th (41:44.1), while Löffler was 97th(41:45.9) and Arnold was 143rd(43:45.1).
In addition to the positive in-region results from the men's squad, Jerome also noted that an Alaska Skiing alumna, Julia Coulter Pierson, was helping the Nanooks in the waxing trailer for the last couple of days and will continue to do so for the rest of the events. The four-year standout and All-American skier is attending Physical Therapy school nearby in Salt Lake City.
“It's been really nice seeing Julia and having her there to help us out with the waxing,” he said.
The team returns to the trails on Sunday, Jan. 6 for the longest race of the week, taking on a 30 km mass start classic race at 10 a.m. MST (8 a.m. AKST).