Aug. 23, 2007

The Alaska Nanooks cross country teams have good reason to hold high expectations for the upcoming season. After all, last year marked one of the best seasons in recent memory for the Nanook runners. This year, with a tight-knit, experienced core and a handful of gifted new recruits, head coach Scott Jerome and his squad will have their sights set even higher.

The Men

The Alaska men's roster features seven returning athletes, including senior Marius Korthauer. The Bonndorf, Germany native finished in first place at the Ester Dome 5K last season, recording a time of 23:21: the ninth-best ever recorded on the course. The Blue and Gold will also benefit from the return of senior Chris Eversman, who spent last season as part of a student-exchange program with the University of Southern Maine. A key member of the 2005 Nanooks cross country program, Eversman ran in the Boston Marathon as well as the Maine Marathon (where he placed third) during his time on the East Coast. Along with fellow senior Vahur Teppan, Korthauer and Eversman should provide Alaska with plenty of veteran leadership this season.

Alaska will also look to some of their younger runners to boost the team as well. With a year under their belt, sophomores Ray Sabo and John Parry should continue to develop into solid runners. Sabo was the Nanooks second-highest finisher at the GNAC Championships last season, while Parry finished 11th in the Ester Dome 5K.

"I am very excited for the upcoming season for the guys," said Jerome. "We have a couple guys that I just don't have any idea about. We are going to have some surprises and I hope they are good surprises."

The Nanooks also added a number of talented recruits to their squad, as freshman Zach McGill and Michael Dunahoe will suit up for Alaska this season. McGill, who hails from Minnetonka, Minnesota, is a multi-talented athlete who competed in cross-country, track, and skiing while attending Hopkins High School. The school's fastest runner in both his junior and senior seasons, McGill was named the Cross-Country Team MVP last season. Dunahoe, an Anchorage native, was one of the top Region IV runners in the state while running for Robert Service High School, where he served as captain for his final two seasons. He recorded back-to-back top-ten finishes at the State Cross Country Championships in 2005 and 2006.

"The way they are going to add to the team is depth: we didn't recruit anybody to come in and be a superstar," said Jerome. "My expectations are that Zach and Michael are going to be contributors and are going to score points for us. We certainly don't expect them to be our number one runner. We want them to come in the top five and score some points, and really set the foundation for the coming years."

The Women

The Nanooks women will return seven key members of their top five team last season, making them one of the conference's strongest teams. Junior Elisabeth Habermann, one of the biggest surprises for Alaska last season, rejoins the team for her third season. Habermann recorded three finishes in the top-ten in 2006, including a fifth place finish at the UPS Invitational, and a ninth place effort at the Apple Ridge Run.

Also returning for the Nanooks will be juniors Julia and Anna Coulter. The twin sisters were a mainstay at the top of the leaderboard for the Nanooks last season, including a tie for first at the season opening Ester Dome 5K. Julia also finished fourth in the Apple Ridge Run Invitational and cracked the top 30 at the GNAC championships, while Anna logged three top-ten finishes last season, and won the recent 5K Chena River Run. Add in graduate student Beth Zirbes, who scored two top-ten finishes herself last season, and you've got one of the deepest teams around.

"I'm really impressed with the depth of the team," said Jerome. "You don't have to have a superstar, but if you have five decent runners, you can go a long way in cross country. That's what is going to happen with this team: we are going to have seven runners that are all good, and we are going to continue to improve. If someone happens to be all-conference, so much the better. But it's more about having the depth."

Jerome has also added two new faces to the mix, signing Rachel Fridye and Nikkol Sipes to the Nanooks team this off-season. Fridye spent four years running both track and cross country for University High School in Spokane, Wash. She won both the Captain's and Coach's awards for the Titans' cross country last season, and recorded a personal-best time of 11:53.86 in a two-mile run at the 2007 Paseo Invitational. Sipes, who hails from Hunters, Wash., also competed in both track and cross country for Colville High School. Already having garnered comparisons to Alaska's 2005 All-America Pavla Havlova, Sipes logged a time of 19:27 at the Great Northern League Districts 5K, and was named the Colville cross country team's most valuable runner in her senior season.

"I am thrilled that we have our top women returning, but I am also excited about adding these two new freshman that are going to be able to learn from the older women," said Jerome. "I just can't wait to get on the road and see some conference teams and see how we stack up."

The Schedule

The Blue and Gold will kick off the season with the return of their traditional Labor Day home opener, hosting BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1. "It is great to have a home meet this year, because I want to be able to highlight our team," said Jerome. "We are never going to have a ton of spectators, but we want to be able to showcase the team to people in Fairbanks."

From there, the Nanooks return to Yakima, Wash. hoping to repeat last season's success at the Apple Ridge Run Invitational on Sept. 22. This season's GNAC Championships will be held in Boise, Idaho on Oct. 20, followed by the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 9. The NCAA Championships will be held on Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo.

Overall, Jerome feels this year's schedule will benefit Alaska's runners. "We have a month break between the Apple Ridge Run and the conference meet," said Jerome. "While that presents a challenge in terms of keeping the athletes motivated, from a training standpoint, it is kind of nice: we can focus on a solid month of training leading up to the conference championships. I think it is going to be a benefit."

Outlook

On both the men's and women's side, the Nanooks are a team on the rise. While Alaska continues to be a team in transition, Jerome certainly expects to field a solid and highly-competitive side this season. "We expect we could move up a spot in the conference in both men's and women's," said Jerome. "That's certainly possible. We know we are going to be significantly better in two to three years: the first year, we will take what we get."

Among the top priorities for the Nanooks, however, will be continuing to build towards the future: Coach Jerome has set the goal of nabbing a conference championship by 2010 for his team. "The biggest expectation I have for this season is laying a good foundation for the future," said Jerome. "We don't have to have a great season, but we have to have a good season to prepare us for the future. Cross country running is a long term deal. It takes years to become a good runner and it takes years to become a good team. So we are in it for the long haul."