From the time he premiered in a Seawolf uniform, Tobias Schwoerer [2000-03] continued to raise the bar for success in both of his sports. A five-time All-American in Nordic skiing and the program’s first-ever All-American in cross country, Schwoerer became the second Seawolf to earn at least six such honors, doing so in just three years.
The native of Lenzkirch, Germany, was also the second student-athlete to twice be selected UAA’s Bill MacKay Athlete of the Year and is still the only one to do it consecutively. After becoming the men’s cross country program’s first individual NCAA qualifier in 2000, Schwoerer followed by leading the Seawolves to their first-ever team berth in 2001, where he claimed All-America honors with a 35th-place finish. In his final season, he anchored a Seawolf squad that finished No. 12 in the nation and won the program’s first Great Northwest Athletic Conference title.
On the ski trails, Schwoerer placed 7th or higher in five of his six career appearances at the NCAA Championships, ending with a pair of 3rd-place showings as a senior in 2003. With a 4th-place finish in the 20K freestyle and a 5th-place finish in the 10K classical at the 2002 NCAA Skiing Championships, became the first male Division II athlete to earn the running-skiing All-America double in the same year. Schwoerer posted three regular-season victories in his final ski campaign, including the 2003 NCAA West Region title in the 15K classical, as he found the podium in in nine of his 11 races.
A star in the classroom as well, Schwoerer was a First Team Academic All-American and was named the GNAC’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2001-02. In 2002-03, he also earned UAA’s prestigious Dresser Cup as the Seawolves’ top overall student with a 3.90 GPA. Schwoerer earned a B.A. in economics from UAA in 2003 and added an M.S. in resource management from Simon Fraser University in 2007.
A former champion of both Mount Marathon and Crow Pass Crossing, Schwoerer still lives in Anchorage and works for UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research, where he focuses on analyzing economic concerns related to eco-system services and energy options for rural Alaska.
He and his wife Darcy were married in 2010 and have a son, Suvan.
