Ava McMillan flashes the form that took her to a 13th place finish at the recently held Alpine ski meet held at Lutsen Mountains. Just a 9th grader, Ava was the second skier for the varsity team.
We were aware the boys’ Alpine ski team was going to be deep this year but how it played out at the first meet exceeded expectations. Our Alpine boys took fourth place of nine regional teams at Lutsen Mountains on December 9, the first race event of the year.
Yet, our fourth place team finish was absent our top four skiers (team results combine the four top skiers from each team). Anders Zimmer, Collin Berglund and Kyle Martinson are among the area top skiers and each had racecourse miscues that did not place them in a team scoring position. Luke Fenwick, who has demonstrated the fastest team practice times of the season, was absent.
So, our younger kids stepped up to the plate in a big way. Dexter Yoki (Silver Bay), Will Lamb (7th grade), Charlie Lawler (10th grade) and Logan Backstrom (also a 7th grader) all finished in the top 20 and took 11, 13, 16 and 17th place respectively out of a field of 60 racers.
Ski racers periodically fall victim to course miscues. It’s the nature of the sport. But, losing the top four is unusual. We are early in the season, and while it was unfortunate to not have any of our top skiers place, this race demonstrated our younger boys have a bright future this season. Stayed tuned.
Above: Charlie Lawler cuts hard around a gate as he races to a 13th place finish in the Lutsen invitational. Left: With team captain Katie Smedstad’s second place at Lutsen the girl’s team finished in second in the competition.
The girls’ team is the defending Cook County Invitational Champions with Signe Larson serving as the defending individual first place winner from last year. And like the boys, the girls came into their home arena with high expectations. The girls have set a high bar and they should. Like the boys, they have team depth this year. While second place is a stellar result, the girls clearly want more.
Team Captain Katie Smedstad (Silver Bay) did not disappoint the home crowd. Katie had a 2nd place finish. Katie was followed by up-andcoming star, 9th grader Ava McMillan. Ava finished 13th. Clearly, Ava will excel and reach new levels this year.
Signe Larson managed a 14th place finish even after a course miscue on her first run. Her second run enabled an overall good team result.
Megan Lehto was 15th. Megan will reach a higher level of excellence this year as well. Morgan Weyrens- Welch, an 8th grader, finished with an impressive 23rd place finish among 60 racers in her first varsity race. That’s outstanding.
Our next meet is at Giants Ridge on Dec. 16 (when this article hits the newsstands) followed by our winter break. Look for great things from this Alpine ski team!
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