The 13 men and women that will represent the Central Region at next month’s NCAA Championships at Soldier Hollow Resort in Utah have been announced, as the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s skiing committe revealed the event’s full field on Monday.
CCSA and regional champs Northern Michigan lead the way with six participants, qualifying a full allotment of three men and three women. Alaska will send four student-athletes to nationals, including a full team on the men’s side. St. Scholastica, St. Olaf and Michigan Tech all qualified one skier each to fill out the CCSA representatives.
On the men’s side, Alaska’s Logan Hanneman finished the CCSA season as the top scoring skier on the men’s side. Hanneman will be joined at nationals by teammates Michael Fehrenbach and Max Olex: the latter punching his ticket to NCAAs with a clutch performance at the Central Region Championships. The Northern Michigan men will send junior Kyle Bratrud and a pair of first-year skiers — Fredrik Schwencke and Adam Martin — to Soldier Hollow, while St. Scholastica’s Paul Schommer earned his second career trip to nationals as well, ensuring that Saints have now had at least one representative at each of the last three NCAA Championships.
Northern Michigan’s Rosie Frankowski topped the points list following a highly competitive CCSA season on the women’s side, and will head to nationals with teammates Mary Kate Cirelli and Hannah Boyer. St. Olaf College’s Paige Schember earned her first trip to NCAAs after finishing the year as the region’s No.4 scoring skier. Michigan Tech’s Alice Flanders heads to Utah as well after a strong junior season that included a pair of wins, and Alaska’s Nichole Bathe qualifies in her first season with the Nanooks as well.
The NCAA Skiing Championships will be held on March 5-8 at Soldier Hollow Resort. The Nordic events will kick off with the men’s 10-kilometer and women’s five-kilometer classical cross-country races on March 6, followed by the women’s 15-kilometer and men’s 20-kilometer freestyle races on March 8.
This year’s championships will be webcast live on NCAA.com. Visit http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule to watch all the action.
2014 NCAA Central Region qualifiers
Men
Kyle Bratrud, Northern Michigan
Michael Fehrenbach, Alaska
Logan Hanneman, Alaska
Adam Martin, Northern Michigan
Max Olex, Alaska
Fredrik Schwencke, Northern Michigan
Paul Schommer, St. Scholastica
Women
Nichole Bathe, Alaska
Hannah Boyer, Northern Michigan
Mary Kate Cirelli, Northern Michigan
Alice Flanders, Michigan Tech
Rosie Frankowski, Northern Michigan
Paige Schember, St. Olaf