McPhetres, Pitney land second team All-CCSA honors

February 22, 2013

University Relations

Jamie Foland
907-474-6807

Alaska Nanook women's skiers Alyson McPhetres (Chugiak, Alaska/Spanish & Geological Engineering) and Crystal Pitney (Fairbanks, Alaska/Business Administration) were named to the Central Collegaite Ski Association's All-Conference Second Team.

McPhetres has proved the victor in two conference races this year, including the women's 15K skate race at the CCSA Championships last weekend in Coleraine, Minn. Her first victory was in the women's 5K skate race at the Tour de Twin Cities on Jan. 19. She followed with a second place performance in the women's 15K classic event on Jan. 20 to earn a CCSA Women's Skier of the Week honor on Jan. 24.

Pitney has been a consistent contributor for the Nanooks all season, posting five top-10 finishes, including four top-five finishes and two podiums. Her season-best performance was a second-place finish in the women's 5K freestyle event on Jan. 19th.

St. Scholastica's Sharmila Ahmed and Northern Michigan's Rosie Frankowski, Jordyn Ross, Mary Kate Cirelli and Hannah Boyer earned all-CCSA first team honors, while second-team all conference awards went to McPhetres, Pitney, Michigan Tech's Lynn Duijndam and Sarah Daniels, and Green Bay's Kailey Mucha.

Not making the all-conference team but just ahead of several of the all-conference selections in the league rankings heading into the Central Region Championships this weekend in Houghton, Mich., is senior Raphaela Sieber (Vöhrenbach, Germany/Business Administration).

Sieber was kept out of a pair of long distance races at the U.S. Nationals in early January but bounced back from her ailment to win the women's 15K classic event at the Tour de Twin Cities stop on the SuperTour in Minneapolis, Minn. on Jan. 20.

Sieber proved back to top form last weekend in Coleraine, cruising to an individual title in the women's 5K classic race and then following with a top-ten finish in the 15K skate event the following day.

Women's all-CCSA first team
Rosie Frankowski, NMU
Jordyn Ross, NMU
Sharmila Ahmed, St. Scholastica
Mary Kate Cirelli, NMU
Hannah Boyer, NMU

Women's all-CCSA second team
Alyson McPhetres, Alaska
Kailey Mucha, Green Bay
Sarah Daniels, Michigan Tech
Crystal Pitney, Alaska
Lynn Duijndam, Michigan Tech