The UAA ski team kicked off a week of home-snow competition Monday with a pair of top-10 finishes on the Hillside Ski Trails, which despite early morning rain held up to provide a showcase for a two-time NCAA champion nordic skier.
Colorado's Rune Malo Oedegaard set the pace in the men's 10-kilometer freestyle race, grabbing a 6.8-second win. Oedegaard, a senior from Norway, won the classic titles at the last two NCAA national championships.
Oedegaard is among dozens of top college skiers in Anchorage for the Seawolf Invitational, which runs through Thursday, and the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Skiing Association championships, which are Friday and Saturday. At stake are berths in the national championships.
Though Monday's races went off as planned despite decidedly unseasonable conditions, not all of those scheduled for Tuesday will. Kincaid Park's rain-soaked trails and water-logged stadium forced UAA to call off Tuesday's classic races, which have been moved to Thursday. As of Tuesday night, Tuesday's alpine competition were still a go at Alyeska Ski Resort.
The races represent a rare home-trail and home-slope appearance for the Seawolves, who haven't hosted a home meet with nordic and alpine races since the 2011-12 season.
Claiming top-10 finishes Monday for UAA were Clement Molliet, fourth in the men's race, and Mackenzie Kanady, seventh in the women's 5-K.
Molliet, a junior from France, finished a distant fourth to Colorado's Mads Stroem and Utah's Niklas Persson, who were separated by two-tenths of a second in the duel for second place. Molliet was 39 seconds behind Oedegaard and 29 seconds behind Stroem.
Eighth place went to Anchorage's Forrest Mahlen, who skis for Montana State.
Etiene Richard placed 14th, Mario Roncador 16th and Andrew Arnold 17th for the UAA men.
In the women's race, Emilie Cedervaern of New Mexico captured her first win and fifth podium finish of the season. She skied to a 12-second win over Utah's Veronika Mayerhoffer.
Third place went to New Mexico's Eva Sever Rus, the reigning NCAA freestyle champion.
Kanady, a junior from Anchorage, was more than a minute behind the winner.
Three other UAA women made it into the top 20 -- 11th-place Kathrin Schratt, 13th-place Manon Locatelli and 16th-place Patricia Sprecher.
Alpine racing is in the spotlight Tuesday with slalom races at Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood.
Seawolf Invitational
Monday's results
Team scores -- 1) Utah 172, 2) Colorado 164, 3) New Mexico 151, 4) UAA 130, 5) Montana State 119, 6) Denver 93.
Freestyle races (Hillside trails)
Women's 5-kilometer (top 10) -- 1) Emilie Cedervaern (UNM) 14:46.9 40; 2) Veronika Mayerhoffer (UU) 14:58.9; 3) Eva Severrus (UNM) 15:11.5; 4) Petra Hyncicova (CU) 15:21.5; 5) Sloan Storey (UU) 15:36.1; 6) Anna-Lena Heynen (UU) 15:42.2; 7) Mackenzie Kanady (UAA) 15:47.4; 8) Cambria McDermott (MSU) 15:49.0; 9) Natalia Mueller (UU)15:49.2; 10) Josefin Nilsson (UU) 15:57.0.
Other UAA finishers -- 11) Kathrin Schratt 15:58.5; 13) Manon Locatelli 16:06.0; 16) Patricia Sprecher 16:26.1; 17) Anika Miller MSU 16:39.5; 28) Hanna Slotte 18:06.7. Other Anchorage finisher -- 25) Annie Liotta (MSU) 17:09.5.
Men's 10-K (top 10) -- 1) Rune Malo Oedegaard (CU) 25:18.6; 2) Mads Stroem (CU) 25:26.4; 3) Niklas Persson (UU) 25:26.6; 4) Clement Molliet (UAA) 25:57.7; 5) Moritz Madlener (DU) 25:59.3; 6) Kevin Bolger (UU) 26:04.5; 7) Jackson Hill (CU) 26:12.5; 8) Forrest Mahlen (MSU) 26:13.6; 9) Mats Resaland (UNM) 26:16.2; 10) Sawyer Kesselheim (MSU) 26:16.3.
Other UAA finishers -- 14) Etienne Richard 26:31.4; 16) Mario Roncador 26:36.7; 17) Andrew Arnold 26:49.9; 21) Alex Mahoney 27:10.5; 26) John Farr 28:23.9; 28) Brandon Brewster 28:31.1; 30) Davis Dunlap 29:26.5.
This week's schedule
Seawolf Invitational
Tuesday's races
Nordic (Kincaid Park)
10 a.m. – Women's 10-K classic
11:30 a.m. – Men's 10-K classic
Alpine (Alyeska Ski Resort)
11 a.m. – Men's and women's slalom, first run
1:30 p.m. – Men's and women's slalom, second run
(Note: FIS races; do not count in Seawolf Invitational standings)
Wednesday's race
Alpine (Alyeska Ski Resort)
11 a.m. – Men's and women's giant slalom, first run
1:30 p.m. – Men's and women's giant slalom, second run
Thursday's races
Alpine (Alyeska Ski Resort)
11 a.m. – Men's and women's slalom, first run
1:30 p.m. – Men's and women's slalom, second run
RMISA championships
Friday's races
Nordic (Hillside)
10 a.m. – Men's 10-K freestyle
11:30 a.m. – Women's 5-K freestyle
Alpine (Alyeska Ski Resort)
11 a.m. – Men's and women's giant slalom, first run
1:30 p.m. – Men's and women's giant slalom,second run
Saturday's races
Nordic (Kincaid Park)
9 a.m. – Women's 15-K classic
– Men's 20-K classic freestyle
Alpine (Alyeska Ski Resort)
11 a.m. – Men's and women's slalom, first run
1:30 p.m. – Men's and women's slalom second run