ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – University of Alaska Anchorage's Sigurd Roenning was named the Male Nordic Athlete of the Year and Marine Dusser was named Nordic Coach of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Wednesday.

Roenning was named the RMISA Nordic MVP and earned All-American honors with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He finished on the podium four times and won the freestyle race at the Utah Invite.

"Sigurd is already a very mature and dedicated student-athlete," said Marine Dusser. "Very few student-athletes train as hard and as much as he does, and I would not pick anyone else to win that award. Sigurd has changed a lot this season. Last year during his freshman year, he had to get used to the team effort we had going on here. It is very different from Norway where skiing is 100% an individual sport. I think this year he was fully engaged with it. He became a very good teammate and team player, helping the team, sharing his skis and motivating his teammates. I saw him this winter making race strategy with the rest of the men's team. I am very proud of the student-athlete he has become, not only training/racing wise, but the person and the role he has taken over in the team. He is the team leader."

Dusser earned RMISA Nordic Coach of the Year honors in her first season as interim associate head coach for men's and women's Nordic skiing. She coached the Seawolves to four All-American honors, including Sigurd Roenning who was named the RMISA Male Nordic Athlete of the Year.

"What Marine was able to accomplish this year speaks directly to her talent as a coach, her tremendous work ethic as a team player, and her dedication to our student-athletes," said head coach Sparky Anderson. "Our program's outstanding results this season, including Sigurd winning RMISA MVP and RMISA Nordic Skier of the Year, only paint part of the picture. Marine stepped unexpectedly into the role of interim head Nordic coach this season and immediately assumed that leadership role within our staff. She knocked it out of the park this year, and I'm thrilled to see her recognized by this high honor."

"I am super happy to be winning both Coach and Athlete of the Year awards," said Marine Dusser. "We had the best season in many years, and it is really awesome to get those when we are racing against very strong Div. I schools. I think it shows our team motivation, passion and professionalism. It is a team award, because I would not have won that award without an amazing staff who are doing a fabulous job helping me, Toom Kollo our new assistant coach and Adam Verrier our volunteer coach, who are working super hard!"