Sieber leads Nanooks, tops CCSA podium on day two at Wirth
January 22, 2013
Jamie Foland
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Junior Raphaela Sieber (Vöhrenbach, Germany/Business Administration) bounced back from illness earlier this month to earn the top collegiate finish in the women's 15K mass start classic event on the second day of the Tour de Twin Cities SuperTour stop on Sunday at Wirth Park.
“I'm really happy for our team, and for our women,” Alaska head coach Scott Jerome said. “We had a good day yesterday, but we were still kind of holding our breath on the classic race today. But it worked out and I'm really happy for Raphaela. Any time you can sweep the podium, it's really exciting.”
Sieber raced her way to an impressive seventh place overall finish, crossing the line in 47:21.7 – a good 54 seconds ahead of her nearest collegiate competition.
Junior Alyson McPhetres (Chugiak, Alaska/Spanish & Geological Engineering), who also earned her first collegiate win in Saturday's skate race, completed a breakout weekend for herself with a second-place collegiate finish, and ninth-place overall, in 48:25.4. Nanook senior Rebecca Konieczny (West Yellowstone, Mont./Biological Sciences) took third in the CCSA with a tenth-place overall finish of her own, in 48:38.0.
“Aly had her best classic race ever today,” Jerome said. “That's what she needed to do if she wants to make it to NCAAs, so this is a good start for her.”
Northern Michigan's Jordyn Ross took fourth in the CCSA with her 11th-place overall finish in 48:41.3, just edging out Alaska senior Theresia Schnurr (Buhlertal, Germany/Biochemistry), who finished 12th overall and fifth in the CCSA in 48:41.8.
Alaska junior Hether Edic (Fairbanks, Alaska/Mechanical Engineering) finished 19th in 49:27.2, senior Marit Rjabov (Voru, Estonia/Psychology) was 26th in 50:39.5 and senior Crystal Pitney (Fairbanks, Alaska/Business Administration) rounded out the Nanooks in the field in 33rd place (51:55.2).
As a team the Nanooks were tops on the day with 78 points, edging rival Northern Michigan by 11 points (67). College of St. Scholastica was third. For the weekend the Blue and Gold had 155 points to Northern's 133. When combined with the men's points, Alaska handily won the weekend with 301 points to NMU's 274.
“It was a good weekend for us,” Jerome said, “and having a good final race makes the flight home a lot easier.”
The Nanooks return to Fairbanks to train for the CCSA Championships, which are spread over two weekends in February. They open in Marquette, Mich., at Al Quaal where they will race a 1.5K freestyle sprint on Feb. 2 and a 3-by-5K classic relay. The head to Minnesota two weeks later for a 5K classic interval start (Feb. 16) and a 15K freestyle mass start (Feb. 17) at Mt. Itasca.