World nordic ski championships
Randall 30th
Anchorage's Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks rounded out a group of four U.S. Ski Team cross-country skiers to finish in the top 30 on Tuesday in a 10-K individual skate at the FIS World Nordic Ski Championships in Val Di Fiemme, Italy.
Liz Stephen's fifth-place finish led the U.S.. It was a personal best for Stephen, of E. Montpelier, Vt., and was a historic best for the women's team in the event.
Jessie Diggins of Afton, Minn., who teamed with Randall last weekend to capture a sprint title for America's first world championship, came in 23rd, with Brooks taking 27th and Randall coming in 30th.
"Today was a tough one for me personally," Randall said in an email. "I felt like I was missing the power and capacity I had in my distance skating earlier this season. I was probably a little fatigued from the team sprint two days ago and since I haven't done very much distance skate racing since the Tour, my aerobic system may have been a little asleep."
Norway's Therese Johaug won Tuesday's 10-K in 25 minutes, 23.4 seconds. Stephen finished in 26:04.6.
"I've been training alongside Liz for a few years now and have witnessed how hard she works," Randall said. "She has been reaching new levels this season."
uaa track and field
Chelimo rakes honors
UAA's Micah Chelimo received a plethora of awards Monday, picking up four all-region honors by the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association and becoming the first athlete from UAA to garner the Division II Cross Country Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Chelimo, of Kenya, was all-region in the mile, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters and distance medley relay, and the mechanical engineering major also posted a 3.26 GPA to reach all-academic status.
He was one of 12 athletes out of 555 registered men to be honored as all-region in four events and one of 15 Seawolves to receive all-region honors.
The Seawolves were also named winners of the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association men's and women's team scholar awards. The men posted a team GPA of 3.21 and the women posted 3.25. Eight Seawolves achieved all-academic status.
UAA all-region honorees
Women -- Susan Tanui, mile, 3-K, 5-K; Ruth Keino, 3-K, 5-K; Karolin Anders, pentathlon; Susan Bick, distance medley relay; Haleigh Lloyd, distance medley relay; Ivy O'Guinn, distance medley relay; Jessica Pahkala, distance medley relay.
Men -- Micah Chelimo, mile, 3-K, 5-K, distance medley relay; Dylan Anthony, 3-K, 5-K; Joe Day, 800 meters, distance medley relay; Ethan Hewitt, 400 meters, distance medley relay; Alfred Kangogo, mile, distance medley relay, Kevin rooke, 3-K, 5-K; Jake Parisien, 5-K; Cody Thomas, heptathlon.
UAA all-academic honorees
Women -- Miriam Kipng'eno; Katie Krehlik; Bryn Haebe; Sarah Freistone.
Men -- Micah Chelimo; Alfred Kangogo; Kevin Rooke; Dominik Notz.
uaa skiing
UAA fields full team
For the second straight season, a full team of 12 skiers will represent UAA in the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Skiing Championships on March 6-9 in Middlebury, Vt., where the Seawolves will be one of seven teams to field a full squad.
Andreas Adde, Cedrick Gagnon and Niko Harmanen will ski for the UAA men's alpine team, with Anna Berecz, Vanessa Berther and Kayla Hoog-Fry skiing for the women's alpine team.
UAA's cross-country skiers will be Viktor Braennmark, Lukas Ebner and Lasse Moelgaard-Nielsen for the men and Marine Dusser, Karina Smith and Patricia Sprecher for the women.
Alpine skiers are selected from the East and West Regions, and cross-country skiers are selected from the Central, East and West Regions. A maximum of 12 athletes, three per gender per discipline, may participate from a school.
Alpine events will run at Middlebury College Snow Bowl, and cross-country events take place at Rikert Nordic Center. The championships will be webcast live on NCAA.com.
Gold Nugget Triathlon
Registration nearing
It's almost time to start signing up for the nation's longest running all-female triathlon. Registration for the Gold Nugget Triathlon begins March 5 at 8 p.m., at goldnuggettriathlon.com and the 1,500 available spots go quickly.
It took less than two hours to reach 1,500 registrants last year. To simplify the process and cut down on web traffic, only basics such as name, birth date and email address are required to register. The payment and registration process will be completed between march 6-13.
Registrants will know immediately if they are one of the first 1,500 and will receive an email with a unique web link to complete the sign-up process. Mothers and daughters must register individually but can have the link sent to the same email address.
Those who don't get one of the first 1,500 slots will automatically be entered into a lottery for the unfilled spaces. The lottery pool is limited to 500 names and those winning a lottery spot will receive an email with instructions for registration between March 14 and 17.
ski jumping
Headed to Nationals
Four Anchorage ski jumpers will compete against national competition this weekend at the Nordic Combined Junior Nationals in Minneapolis, Minn., a competition that combines jumping off a 70-meter ski jump with a 5-kilometer cross-country skiing race.
Jack Constantine, Ryan Brubaker, Jasper Rygh and Nathan Suttleworth, who all competed in last weekend's Karl Eid Jumpfest at Hilltop Ski Area, will represent Alaska. The ski jumping competition takes place Friday, and the cross-country race will be Saturday.
Constantine won the competition at Hilltop last weekend, posting a 57-point effort off a 64-meter ski jump on his way to winning a nordic-combined event.
Karl Eid Jumpfest
Last weekend's results
Hilltop Ski Area
64-meter jump -- 1) Jack Constantine, 57.0; 2) Ryan Brubaker, 55.8; 3) Jasper Rygh, 49.5; Nathan Suttleworth, 46.5.
43-meter jump -- 1) Alex Murray, 47.6; 2) Hugo Compton, 61.9; 3) Hunter Eid, 60.7; Eli Hermanson, 53.3.
18-meter jump (10 and older) -- 1) Gus Compton, 56.8; 2) Zane Kam, 53.6; 3) Maya Brubaker, 50.9; 4) Kai Kam, 49.2; 5) Jania Tumey, 45.8.
18-meter jump (9 and younger) -- 1) Carter Brubaker, 54.6; 2) Neena Brubaker, 41.6; 3) Hope Strohmeyer, 40.8; 4) Charlie Folds, 40.7, 5) Savannah Rygh, 37; 6) Carly Schudlich, 19.1 (single jump).
Anchorage Daily News