Sieber paces women's cross country at Ester Dome 5K

September 10, 2012

Raphaela Sieber was the top cross country finisher in second on Saturday.

Junior Raphaela Sieber (Voehrenbach, Germany) was the top Alaska women's cross country finisher at the Ester Dome Run with a second-place showing on Saturday morning at Ester Dome.

Sieber completed the five-kilometer uphill course in 28 minutes, 41 seconds to garner runner-up honors. Crystal Pitney (Fairbanks, Alaska) and Theresia Schnurr (Buhlertal, Germany), who have both exhausted their running eligibility, finished first and third with times of 28:25 and 29:17, respectively. Both Pitney and Schnurr will ski this winter for the Nanooks.

“Our women ran really well and really tough,” interim head coach Matt Dunlap said. “We had a little smaller team on the women's side but we have a lot of depth up at the top.”

Other top finishers for the Nanooks included freshman Julia Ebner (Furtwangen, Germany), who took fourth in 29:39, junior Alyson McPhetres (Chugiak, Alaska), who placed fifth in 30:22 and junior Heidi O'Connor-Brook (Whitehorse, Yukon Territories), who crossed the line in sixth in 31:18.

The Nanooks were rounded out by freshman Sara Falconer (Anchorage, Alaska) in seventh (32:08), senior Marit Rjabov (Voru, Estonia) in eighth (33:02), senior Megan Thompson (Fairbanks, Alaska) in ninth (34:49) and freshman Ema Mayo (Fairbanks, Alaska) in 11th (36:39).

McPhetres and Thompson both achieved personal records in this race, with McPhetres dropping 30 seconds and Thompson trimming 1:58 off her previous best.

The Nanooks return to action Sept. 22 when they travel to Lacey, Wash., for the Saint Martin's Invitational.