ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Santi Ocariz of Wisconsin-Green Bay proved he’ll be a force in the Central Collegiate Ski Association this season, as he topped the conference and placed 37th overall on Monday in the 10-kilometer freestyle that opened the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships.
On a chilly day with the temperature around zero degrees, Ocariz navigated the challenging course at Kincaid Park in 27 minutes, 9 seconds. Ocariz, a junior, has reached the NCAA Championships the past two years and this season should contend for a conference title.
Also placing in the top five in the CCSA were Jens Brabbit of Gustavus Adolphus College in 27:41, Oyvind Watterdal of Alaska (Fairbanks) in 27:52, Alex Morris of Alaska in 28:21 and Phillip Violett of Northern Michigan in 28:22.
Eight of the 11 CCSA schools participated on Monday. The race was not an NCAA qualifier for the conference but it included most of the top skiers in the nation.
Olympian Kris Freeman of the U.S. Ski Team won the men’s race in 24:17 while Caitlin Compton of CXC claimed the women’s event in 14:48.
For the women, Alaska had four of the top seven conference skiers in the 5K. Anna Coulter, a 2008 NCAA All-American, led the way in 16:08 (26th place) while twin sister Julia Pierson was 10 seconds back in 30th place. Marie-Helen Soderman of NMU was 31st less than a second later while Kelly Chaudoin of GAC took 40th in 16:34 and Laura DeWitt of NMU was 49th in 16:41.
The freestyle was the first event to take place because the classic sprint was canceled on Saturday and Sunday due to sub-zero temperatures. The revised schedule will now have a classic technique race (10K for women and 15K for men) on Tuesday, the classic sprint on Wednesday and a team sprint on Thursday.
Complete CCSA results are listed below. For more information, contact Matias Saari, the Sports Information Director for the CCSA, at matiasalaska@hotmail.com or call (907)347-9192.
U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships
Anchorage, Alaska
Jan. 5 – freestyle interval start
MEN – 10K
(CCSA place, name, school, time, overall place)
1. Santi Ocariz, UWGB, 27:09 (37)
2. Jens Brabbit, GAC, 27:41 (54)
3. Oyvind Wattersal, UAF, 27:52 (58)
4. Alex Morris, UAF, 28:21 (74)
5. Phillip Violett, NMU, 28:22 (75)
6. Waylon Manske, CSS, 28:23 (78)
7. Einar Often, UAF, 28:23 (79)
8. Jesse Lang, MTU, 28:28 (82)
9. John Parry, UAF, 28:28 (83)
10. Justin Singleton, NMU, 28:38 (88)
11. Timothy Cook, NMU, 28:50 (91)
12. Craig Hertz, 28:51 (92)
13. Petter Sjulstad, MTU, 28:53 (94)
14. Erik Mundahl, MTU, 28:59 (98)
15. Kyle Fredrickson, UWGB, 29:37 (116)
16. Andrew Joda, MTU, 29:45 (122)
17. Tyler Kjorstad, CSS, 29:46 (123)
18. Ray Sabo, UAF, 29:59 (131)
19. Ian Wilkinson, UAF, 30:08 (134)
20. Kevin Cutts, NMU, 30:14 (136)
21. Jason Kask, CSS, 30:22 (140)
22. Charlie Keller, MTU, 30:29 (143)
23. Erik Soderstrom, 30:35 (145)
24. Chris Harvey, MTU, 30:56 (150)
25. Andy Cheesbro, UWGB, 31:15 (154)
26. Jeff Cook, UWGB, 31:16 (155)
27. Andrew Poffenberger, GAC, 31:28 (158)
28. Colin Singleton, MTU, 31:55 (168)
29. Justin Young, UWGB, 32:34 (179)
30. Steve Pribyl, MTU, 32:40 (180)
31. Logan Smestad, GAC, 33:00 (183)
32. William Coleman, UAF, 33:30 (188)
33. Andrew Tilman, GAC, 33:44 (191)
WOMEN – 5K
(CCSA place, name, school, time, overall place)
1. Anna Coulter, UAF, 16:08 (26)
2. Julia Pierson, UAF, 16:18 (30)
3. Marie-Helen Soderman, NMU, 16:18 (31)
4. Kelly Chaudoin, GAC, 16:34 (40)
5. Laura DeWitt, NMU, 16:41 (49)
6. Elisabeth Habermann, UAF, 16:52 (53)
7. Theresia Schnurr, UAF, 16:57 (57)
8. Ingrid Fjeldheim, NMU, 16:57 (58)
9. Anna Karin Berglund, NMU, 17:30 (81)
10. Christina Gillis, NMU, 17:32 (85)
11. Lindsey Marshall, UWGB, 17:45 (91)
12. Carolyn Freeman, UWGB, 17:46 (93)
13. Sarah Bergeron-Larouche, UAF, 17:57 (104)
14. Jackie Pribyl, MTU, 18:00 (106)
15. Jenna Klein, MTU, 18:28 (126)
16. Megan Holmes, CSS, 18:49 (135)
17. Elizabeth Quinley, MTU, 19:12 (143)
18. Annie Dehmlow, UWGB, 19:13 (145)
19. Caitlin Cassidy, NMU, 19:24 (146)
20. Melanie Hoffman, MTU, 19:37 (150)
21. Christina Mishica, MTU, 19:39 (151)
22. Jenny Beckman, SCSU, 19:57 (154)
23. Kristen Monahan, MTU, 20:01 (156)
24. Diane Vezendy, SCSU, 20:12 (158)
25. Mariah Featherly, SCSU, 20:32 (160)
26. Brittany Drengler, UWGB, 21:01 (162)
27. Rebecca Konieczny, UAF, 21:15 (164)
28. Amy Peterson, SCSU, 22:33 (165)
29. Anna Rix, NC, 23:03 (166)
