UAA's three men's alpine skiers finished in the top 20 of the giant slalom Wednesday on the opening day of the NCAA Ski Championships in New Hampshire, where two of the three Seawolves women's skiers failed to complete the first of two runs.
Freshman Dominic Unterberger led UAA with a 17th-place finish, just ahead of senior teammate Hughston Norton (18th) and sophomore Anthony Naciuk (20th) in the field of 34 racers. Thirty men finished the two runs on Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire.
UAA's three men combined for 38 of the Seawolves' 45 team points, which leaves them in eighth place among 21 teams competing heading into Thursday's nordic opener in Jackson. The Seawolves are competing with the maximum 12 athletes — three men and three women in alpine, and matching contingents in nordic competition.
Montana State owns the team lead with 149 points.
Unterberger stood 23rd after the first run and tied for seventh in the second run to vault six spots in the overall competition.
UAA's women did not fare as well. Senior Katherine Lamoureux finished 24th among 30 finishers, but junior Charley Field and sophomore Alix Wells were two of the three skiers who did not complete the first run.
UAA has finished sixth in the team competition in each of the previous five years. The Seawolves' best finish was their national runner-up performance in 2010.
Just getting to nationals caps a season of perseverance for UAA's skiers. Their program late last year faced the threat of elimination because of budget cuts in the University of Alaska system, but community support, including rallies, prompted UA officials to take the ski team off the chopping block.