BOZEMAN, MONT. – Alaska Anchorage had three women finish in the top-10 in the Nordic freestyle race at the Montana State Invite Friday.
Anna Darnell paced the Seawolf women with a fifth place finish (16:43).
Michaela Keller-Miller finished ninth (16:57), and Jenna DiFolco was 10th (16:58).
Toomas Kollo was the top finisher for the UAA men placing seventh (29:54).
Sigurd Roenning was 11th (30:23), and JC Schoonmaker was 23rd (31:32).
“The women had their best day in many years and more personal bests for Anna, Michaela and Jenna,” said head Nordic coach Andrew Kastning. “The course was very soft and windy conditions were covering the trail in whiteout conditions from time to time. You had to be light and quick in the soft snow, and tough in the mind to keep the pace all the way to the finish. Our women and Toomas Kollo succeeded at this and got the results to show. Sigurd is a bigger guy and didn't feel as sharp today as last weekend but has vowed to get some revenge tomorrow in the 20km classic.”
Other finishers for the women included Hannah Rudd 18th (17:44), Casey Wright 20th (18:03) and Marte Haakenstad-Braaten was 21st (18:04).
Other finishers for the men included Austin Huneck 30th (32:22), Marcus Deuling 31st (32:55) and Brandon Herhusky 35th (35:05).
Alix Wells led the Seawolves in the women's slalom, which featured only one run, finishing 17th (56.29).
Li Djurestaal was 20th (57.52), and Georgia Burgess was 23rd (58.25).
Tony Naciuk led the men finishing 17th (1:46.67).
Didrik Nilsen finished 23rd (1:50.58), and Sky Kelsey and Martins Onskulis were 26th (1:52.44) and 27th (1:52.96).
Dominic Unterberger was 30th (1:55.63).
“Today was rough,” said head coach Sparky Anderson. “We got beat up pretty good and the cards that fell make our road to the championship pretty difficult. On the positive side, Tony battled well and Martins moved way up. We've got our work cut out for us, but I believe in our kids. We'll get home, dig in, and get back to work. We're here to compete.”
Alaska Anchorage is sixth in the team standings with 331 points.
The MSU Invite concludes Saturday.
