In a nice tight tuck, Morgan Weyrens-Welch (left) showed the form that helped her finish in 18th place at the conference meet while Madysen McKeever (above) led the team with a 17th place finish at Giants Ridge to help the Viking girls’ varsity place 5th out of 9 teams at the conference meet.
The Cook County/Silver Bay Boys Alpine Vikings took second place among nine total teams in a full conference meet at Giants Ridge on January 3.
Will Lamb, Anders Zimmer, Logan Backstrom and Luke Fenwick placed 8th, 9th, 10th and 12th respectively for the Vikings’ four scorers. And once again, the boys showed their depth.
Collin Berglund, Kyle Martinson, Dexter Yoki and Charlie Lawler followed by finishing 15th, 17th, 22nd and 27th. Competing in a field of 72 racers, the Vikings got a good look at their conference counter parts. And having six racers in the top 20 is impressive.
This day, however, belonged to Hermantown as their boys eked out a first place finish by just three points with their boys finishing 2nd, 3rd 11th and 19th.
The boys JV repeated as champs with another 1-2-3 winning combination consisting of Jack Viren 1st, Erik Lawler 2nd and Ezra Lunde 3rd.
“Hermantown may not have the team depth as do the Vikings, but their top four – five skiers are stellar. We can afford a hiccup here and there but we have to be spot-on to compete with Hermantown—and I believe we are well positioned to that as the season progresses,” said boys’ Captain Anders Zimmer. “And I am certainly proud of our JV racers. These guys are rockin,’” said Zimmer.
Above: Will Lamb bent the gate nearly in half as he raced his way down the slalom course at Giants Ridge on Friday, January 3. Will led the Vikings to a second place at the conference meet with his 8th place finish.
The girls’ varsity team was led by Madysen McKeever who finished 17th among 70 racers. Morgan Weyrens Welch was close behind in 18th followed by up-and-coming stand-out Alyssa Martinson 21st and Megan Lehto, 23rd rounded out the top four scorers for the Vikings. Madysen and Morgan each had two solid runs and Alyssa was just 7/10 second behind Morgan.
The exciting element of the girls’ team is their youth— they are a very young team and are simply getting better with each race. The Viking girls were 5th of nine teams and are within striking distance of Marshall and East who finished 3rd and 4th.
The Alpine Vikings continue on their big January schedule with the Moose Mountain Invite January 10 at Lutsen Mountains, followed by three more January meets throughout the region.
There is a professional golf television advertisement that says, “These guys are good.” Well, your boys’ and girls’ Alpine ski team…they are good and fun to watch. If you have the chance, come to one of their races. It’s exciting!
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