WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Laura Valaas of Whitman College has been named to the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association's All-Conference Team for women's cross country.
Valaas, a junior from Wenatchee, Wash., is one of 10 women named to the RMISA all-conference team. Representing the only NCAA Div. III program in the 10-school conference, Valaas placed third and fifth in races at the RMISA regional championships, held in late February at Montana's Bohart Ranch. Last week, Valaas earned All-American honors by placing fifth and ninth at the NCAA Championships near Stowe, Vt.
Other members of the RMISA all-conference team include Mandy Kaempf and Nicole DeYoung, teammates at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, an NCAA Div. II school, and seven skiers from five NCAA Div. I schools. Kaempf won national titles in both the classic and freestyle events at last week's NCAA Championships, while DeYoung finished second in the freestyle race.
Valaas is the first Whitman cross country skier to earn RMISA all-conference honors. Whitman joined RMISA three years ago when it began competing in NCAA skiing.
In other Whitman "firsts" this season, Valaas became to the first Missionary skier to earn RMISA Skier of the Week honors and qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Valaas is the first Whitman cross country skier to win one of RMISA’s weekly honors. Rachel Walker, a Whitman sophomore from Whistler, British Columbia, was named women’s alpine Skier of the Week last February after she placed second in the giant slalom at the 2004 regional championships.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information,
(509) 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu