Photo by John McColgan

The University of Alaska Anchorage should perhaps be renamed the “Skiwolves” for its series of remarkable performances at the U.S. Cross Country Nordic Ski Championships in Utah this week.

The Seawolves kicked off the week with JC Schoonmaker’s win in the freestyle sprint on Sunday and then placed two in the top 20 at Tuesday’s 30-kilometer freestyle. In Thursday’s 15-kilometer classic, held above freezing in tricky waxing conditions, four Seawolves placed in the top 10 with Schoonmaker third followed by Norwegians Espen Persen (fourth), Magnus Noroey (eighth) and Sigurd Roenning (ninth).

“We hit the wax right, but more importantly the skiers performed regardless of the wax,” head coach Trond Flagstad said of Thursday’s results. “This is the best collegiate result we have ever had (at US Nationals), and we are celebrating tonight.”

The celebration continued on Friday in the classic sprint (held as a SuperTour and not national championship event) when Schoonmaker placed third in the men’s classic sprint freshman Peter Hinds of Anchorage won the men’s junior final and Pascale Paradis took a close second in the women’s junior final.

The results are even more auspicious because the NCAA Championships will be held on the same trails in March.

Meanwhile, Schoonmaker has even bigger races on the horizon. The senior from Tahoe City, Calif., has objectively qualified to represent the U.S. at the 2022 Winter Olympics near Beijing, China, next month. Schoonmaker was ranked as the 11th sprinter on the World Cup before returning from Europe in December. Schoonmaker is expected to be among six male skiers when the U.S. Olympic team is announced January 17.

On the bubble for that team is Scott Patterson of Alaska Pacific University, who followed up Tuesday’s 30K win with second place in Thursday’s 15K classic, trailing only Adam Martin of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project.

Caitlin Patterson

In the 15K classic, APU teammates Hunter Wonders, Zanden McMullen and David Norris placed fifth, sixth and 10th respectively, meaning eight of the Top 10 racers were Alaska-affiliated.

Caitlin Patterson (a graduate of South High racing for Craftsbury) improved her Olympic chances with a stellar week: first in the freestyle sprint, third in the 30K freestyle and first in the 10K classic (by 53 seconds over Katherine Ogden of the U.S. Ski Team). She also placed second in the SuperTour classic sprint on Friday.

Meredith Schwartz

Spots for the upcoming World Junior and World Under-23 Championships were also at stake this week. While the teams have yet to be officially announced, Alexander Maurer of Anchorage clinched his spot as the top U20 racer (and 15th overall) in Thursday’s 15K classic. Maurer, a freshman at the University of Colorado, followed up with second place in Friday’s men’s junior sprint while Chugiak High School grad Michael Earnhart took fourth.

Meredith Schwartz (Alaska Winter Stars) placed third Friday in the junior women’s sprint and Marit Flora of APU was fourth. Both also currently ski for Service High.

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