Korthauer and the Nanooks head into the CCSA skiing with momentum

Jan. 27, 2008

Overall Results

Collegiate Only Results

CABLE, WI- The final tune-up for next month's Central Collegiate Ski Association championships could not have gone any smoother for Marius Korthauer and the Alaska Nanooks. Twenty-four hours after taking the top spot in the distance freestyle race at the Telemark SuperTour event in Cable, WI, Korthauer took the gold again in the 15K classic. Korthauer, who is so far undefeated in the CCSA this season, has now won the last five events he has raced in.

"It's kind of getting old I know," head coach Scott Jerome joked. "It was a good race for him today: he was in second place, and just outsprinted Zach Violett for the win."

Korthauer completed two laps around the 7.5 km course in 39:21.2, just a second ahead over Violett but good for a 17.3 second margin of victory over the next closest collegiate skier, Northern Michigan's Bryan Cook.

Without the services of Vahur Teppan, busy on national team duty with native Estonia at the Alberta World Cup races, the Telemark event gave some of the Nanooks underclassmen a chance to shine. Sophomore Ray Sabo stepped up his chase for a spot at the NCAA races, snagging a seventh place finish among collegiate racers. Einar Often had a fine race as well, coming in ninth in the college ranks.

Sophomore John Parry (13th) and freshman Zach McGill (16th) rounded out the top five for the Nanooks. The two CCSA powerhouses, Alaska and Northern Michigan, combined to take nine of the top 10 collegiate spots.

Another Korthauer, sister Aurelia, enjoyed success at the Telemark as well, as she took home third place overall in the women's 10K race. Korthauer finished just behind Northern Michigan's Morgan Smyth, beating out a pair of other Wildcat skiers for the second spot among collegiate racers.

Anna Coulter and Elisabeth Habermann also finished off strong weekends as well, grabbing their second collegiate top ten finish in as many days. Coulter placed seventh (14th overall), crossing the line just two-tenths of a second ahead of Habermann, who took eighth (15th overall).

Senior Krynn Finstad also raced well at the Telemark event, taking 17th place among collegiate skiers with a time of 34:29.7. Beth Zirbes and Tamra Kornfield took 31st and 35th place, respectively.

Alaska's skiers finally get a return trip to Fairbanks after nearly a month long road trip, as they get three weeks off to gear up for the CCSA Championships, to be held in Biwabik, Minn. on Feb. 16-17. This year's NCAA Skiing Championships will take place in Bozeman, Mont. on March 5-8.