STOWE, VT – Juniors Alex Parker
and Jaime Bronga
skied their way to First- and- Second Team All-America honors Wednesday as the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves wrapped up Day 1 of the 2011 NCAA Ski Championships.
At the halfway mark of the championships, the Seawolves have cumulated 241.5 points for a seventh-place team standing. Following the completion of the men's and women's freestyle and giant slalom events, Colorado leads the field with 408 points, while Dartmouth (362) and Utah (353.5) round out the top three, respectively. Host Vermont (349.5) is currently fourth, New Mexico (305) is fifth and Denver (262) leads UAA by less than 21 points.
Parker claimed her fourth All-America award with a career-best third-place showing in the GS – UAA's lone podium finish of the day. A local of Calgary, Alberta, Parker used the second-fastest first run of one minute, 2.35 seconds for a two-run time of 2:06.81. An All-RMISA Second Team selection, Parker registered two All-America accolades during her freshman campaign and one at the 2010 NCAAs.
A native of Anchorage, Bronga registered her second career All-America award by finishing seventh in the women's 5K freestyle race at the Trapp Family Lodge – her best finish at the NCAAs. Bronga completed the course in a time of 14 minutes, 46.2 seconds. A National Ski Coaches Association All-Academic Team honoree, Bronga earned her first All-America honor in 2010, finishing eighth in the freestyle.
Just missing out on an All-America honor was rookie Lukas Ebner
, who made his NCAA debut in the men's 10K freestyle. Ebner (Furtwangen, Germany), who recorded a first-place finish in the classical at the West Regional on Feb. 26, posted an 11th-place result with a total time of 26:51.6.
Defending slalom champion, sophomore Andreas Adde
posted a 15th-place finish in the men's GS at the Stowe Mountain Resort. A local of Osteras, Norway, Adde tallied the second-fastest time on the second run (1:00.42) for a combined time of 2:04.37.
Scoring for UAA in the women's GS were sophomore Kayla Hoog-Fry
(16th, 2:08.64) and Ida Bjerka
(31st, 2:14.64), while the men's Alpine team was represented by junior Halfdan Falkum-Hansen
(20th, 2:04.91) and freshman Christopher Kollenborg
(23rd, 2:05.74).
On the cross country courses, juniors Steffi Hiemer
(22nd, 15:22.2) and Laura Rombach
(38th, 15:59.2) scored points for the UAA women, while freshman Erik Bjornsen
(21st, 27:21.7) rounded out the scorers for the men's race.
West Region skiers claimed 10 of the 12 podium positions throughout the day, including placing 1-2-3 in both the women's GS and freestyle races. Defending team champion Denver recorded two individual titles, sweeping the GS events.
Originally the GS events were scheduled for Thursday, but were moved to today due to impending inclement weather.
The men's and women's classical are on tap for Day 2 of the NCAA Championships on Friday, while the slalom will be contested on Saturday.
