ANCHORAGE - After returning five All-Americans and producing a stellar recruiting class, the Alaska Anchorage ski team was picked to finish third at the NCAA Championships in March according to the NCAA Skiing Power Rankings preseason poll released in the Ski Racing magazine.

Alaska Anchorage trails only Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association foes Colorado and two-time defending champion Denver, who sit at No. 1 and No. 2 in the poll, respectively.  The University of Vermont comes in at No. 4, while RMISA's New Mexico claims the No. 5 position.

The Seawolves were polled to finish seventh last season, before a registering a season-best fourth-place finish at the NCAAs.  

UAA returns 2009 All-Americans; sophomore Alex Parker, junior Max Treinen and sophomore Lex Treinen, along with 2008 All-Americans; senior Kristina Repcinova and junior Egil Ismar.

The NCAA Skiing Power Rankings will be updated each week at skiracing.com following the start of the collegiate season.

The Seawolf Alpine squad will first hit the slopes on Jan. 11-12 in the Utah Invitational, before reuniting with the Nordic team on Jan. 15-16 in the Montana State Invite.