ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Pascal Paradise won the women's race and Derek Deuling was second for Alaska Anchorage in the men's race at the Alaska Cup, the annual dual meet between Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.
Paradise won the women's five-kilometer classic race in 16:12, ten seconds ahead of Kendall Kramer of UAF.
Karly Coyne was the second Seawolf on the podium placing third in 16:46.
Tuva Granoien finished fifth in 17:44.
"I am very happy with the young skiers on the team stepping it up and leading the way," said associate head coach Trond Flagstad. "Pascal really came out and showed what we have seen this fall in intervals and time trials. Carly and Tuva had solid races. I think they will improve upon once we get some more races behind us."
Mike Ophoff of UAF won the men's 10-kilometer race in 27:53. UAA's Derek Deuling was second in 28:09.
Peter Hinds placed fifth (29:43), and Espen Persen was seventh (30:03).
"On the men's side, Derek and Peter stepped it up and led the charge," said Flagstad. "With JC in Europe and Magnus recovering from being sick, it's nice to see that they can fill in the gap. Both Espen and Sigurd struggled with cold induced asthma problems. I am confident they will be back when the temps rise 10 degrees."
The Nanooks hold a 1:22 advantage in the Alaska Cup competition heading into day two. The Alaska Cup winner is determined by the combined time of the top-three finishers from each team in all four races.
The Alaska Cup will conclude Saturday with 10 and 15-kilometer mass freestyle races.
UAA skier JC Schoonmaker finished 11th in the freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, Norway. This is the second time he has advanced to the semifinals of a World Cup sprint race this season. He finished a career-best seventh in Ruka, Finland last week.
