JACKSON, N.H. - Freshman Andy Liebner became the 62nd Alaska Anchorage skier in program history to earn All-America honors by placing a team-best ninth in the men's 10k freestyle race on a frigid opening day of the 2007 NCAA Skiing Championships today here at the Jackson XC Center.
Liebner's effort helped propell the Seawolves into seventh in the overall team standings (100 points) with three days of events remaining. Northern Michigan, which went 1-2-3 in the women's 5k race, grabbed the overall lead on Day 1 with 189 points, followed by Dartmouth in second (166) and RMISA champion Denver in third (146). Rounding out the top 5 are Utah (4th, 143) and Colorado (5th, 131). UAA stands just six points behind sixth-place Alaska Fairbanks.
One of three Seawolf men's Nordic skiers to qualify for Nationals, Liebner recorded his ninth straight top-10 finish of the season by skating to a time of 26:10.0 on the 10k course. The Soldotna product garnared Second Team All-America accolades with his ninth-place result.
Sophomore newcomer Raphael Wunderle finished just four seconds shy of earning All-America honors with a 12th-place effort (26:20.2) in his national championships debut. Also competing in his first-career NCAA race was junior Paul Schauer, who placed 31st in the field of 38 skiers with a time of 27:47.8.
The men amassed 68 total points in the event to finish sixth overall as a team.
UAA's women were led by senior Kasandra Rice's 16th-place finish in the 5k freestyle. The 2006 All-American from Anchorage recorded a time of 15:01.4, setting her nearly 12 seconds out of the top 10.
Junior Brittany Greer came across the finish line 32nd overall with a time of 15:41.8 in her first-career NCAA race.
Denver's Rene Reisshauer won the men's individual title (24:52.2) while NMU's Lindsey Williams claimed the women's championship (13:50.4).
Subzero temperatures postponed the starting times of both the men's and women's races.
The NCAA Championships will continue Thursday with the men's and women's giant slalom races. Sophomore Stefanie Klocker is UAA's lone Alpine qualifier.
