Anchorage Daily News

After only five hours of sleep, UAF skier Marius Korthauer nervously awoke early Friday morning with a sore throat. Then while warming up at the Bohart Ranch ski area, the even-keeled UAF Nanooks senior admitted feeling a bit of pressure.

"Everybody is telling you you should win on your birthday in your last college race," Korthauer said by phone from Bozeman, Mont.

If Korthauer was nervous -- he'd finished on the podium four times in the last three NCAA Skiing Championships but never reached the top step -- it vanished once the 20-kilometer classic technique race got going.

After 63 minutes and 8 seconds of hard work, the German raised his arms in victory.

"I worked for it for four years," Korthauer said.

UAF coach Scott Jerome was there to greet him. In 2004, Jerome took a chance by giving Korthauer a scholarship when many schools in the West passed, saying he wasn't fast enough. Jerome said Korthauer's reaction in the finish area was fitting of his character.

"I'm getting choked up," Jerome said. "I gave him a big hug and in typical Marius fashion he says 'Thanks for the (fast) skis.' "

Korthauer is also an Academic All-American with a 3.8 grade point average in finance.

"It couldn't happen to a more deserving person," Jerome said. "The nice guys don't always win, but in this case, the nice guy did win."

Korthauer, on his 24th birthday, became the first male NCAA ski champion for the Nanooks. Norwegian Sigrid Aas won the 5-K freestyle and 15-K classic races in 2004.

"I don't think anybody was going to stand in his way today," said Jerome, admitting he was a "basketcase" while waiting for updates when Korthauer was out of sight. "He was ready to win."

While UAF celebrated, UAA's nordic skiers suffered through another tough day without a top-10 finisher as the Seawolves slipped from eighth to 10th place.

Andy Liebner of Soldotna had UAA's best result for the second straight nordic race, finishing 15th in 1:05:44.7 -- 2:37 behind Korthauer. The effort bettered his 2007 NCAA finish of 22nd in the same event.

Junior Raphael Wunderle finished right on Liebner's heels in 16th with a time of 1:05:43.5, while freshman Max Treinen of Anchorage clipped the finish line in 20th (1:06:17.8).

A strong performance by Colorado, which won the men's portion of the classic and claimed second in the women's, propelled it back into the overall lead after three days of events with 483 points. Denver fell to second (465.5), while Utah dropped one spot to third (429).

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