WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Picking up where she left off last season, Laura Valaas of Whitman College has been named women's Nordic Skier of the Week by the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA).
Valaas, a senior from Wenatchee, Wash., was honored after winning the 5-kilometer freestyle and placing fourth in the 10-kilometer classic at last weekend's season-opening University of Alaska-Anchorage Invitational at Soldier Hollow, Utah.
Valaas became the first American woman to win a RMISA Nordic ski race in nearly two years. The sport has been dominated in recent years by European skiers enrolled at U.S. college and universities. RMISA represents 11 schools in the western U.S. that compete in NCAA skiing.
Valaas earned RMISA Skier of the Week honors at the end of the regular season last winter, after placing third and fifth in two events at the West Region championships. She then competed at the NCAA National Championships, earning All-American honors in both the classic and freestyle.
This season's first men's Nordic Skier of the Week is Kjetil Dammen (Oslo, Norway), a sophomore at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. He won the men's freestyle last weekend and placed third in the classic.
The next Nordic events in the RMISA qualifying season take place as part of the Montana State Invitational, slated for Jan. 14-15 at Bohart Ranch near Bozeman, Mont.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information,
(509) 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu