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Photo courtesy of Bruce Johnson
The Cook County boys’ and girls’ teams dominated the Koo Koo Invite held on February 2023 at Lutsen Mountains. “We had an outstanding meet,” said Head Coach John Oberholtzer, adding, “The kids have been having a phenomenal year, just showing great improvement while having a lot of fun.”
Boys
Ray Dressley took top honors at the Koo Koo Invite, with his teammate Cy Oberholtzer finishing second. Overall, the Vikings took five of the top ten places in the meet. Graham Oberholtzer placed sixth, Ben Obinger was seventh and Finnley Taylor placed ninth.
“We’ve seen a ton of progress in all the kids,” said Viking Head Coach John Oberholtzer. “The results at races have been really stellar. The boys’ team is especially deep.”
Ray Dressely, a junior, has won three out of the last four meets he has raced, with a second-place finish at Giants Ridge Hibbing Invite on January 26, marring his win streak. Cy Oberholtzer has two wins, two seconds, and one-third to make the podium five times out of eight races.
Coach commented on the boys’ team, “As a team, the boys have been in first or second place in every race they have been in! Four first-place finishes and four second-place finishes. In several races, we have stacked boys in the top 10. This is not easy to do. Kids need to ski both runs well. And there is a lot of competition out there. Four kids have been in the top ten three times, once five guys in the top 10, and finally, in another race, we put six in the top ten!
“We are led by Cy and Ray, who have swapped first and second place many times this season. Our steady, quiet leader is Ben Obinger, our senior. He has hit his stride at the end of the season, being one of the four top finishers required to score for the overall team score in the last four races.
“Goshi Dimitrov is having a breakout season as a ninth grader: He placed in six out of our eight races; he has been in the top 10 and hit the podium with a third place once. In addition, eighth grader Graham Oberholtzer is another young gun with four top-ten finishes this season. If those two stay healthy, they will lead the program well into the future.”
Girls
Genevieve Silence continued her impressive 20023 showing with a second-place finish at the Koo Koo Invite. Kalina Dimitrova placed fifth, Sophia Blanck took sixth, Liv Hedstrom tenth, Anabelle Silence 16th, and Ruby Gulstrand finished 22nd in the meet.
“The girls have been impressive,” Oberholtzer said. “We only have six girls out this year, but they have been holding their own!
“The girls’ team is coming on quite strong as we head into our Sections race,” Coach said. “In the past three races, we’ve had three girls in the top ten in two of those races. And this past week we had four girls on the top ten in our recent home race!
Those four scorers are Genevieve Silence, Kalina Dimitrov, Sophia Blanck, and Liv Hedstrom. Genevieve has had an amazing season racking up lots of hardware with three podium finishes, and two fourth place finishes just off the podium.”
While the Cook County High School Alpine skiers have been enjoying a banner season, the real test will come at the Section meet on February 7 at Giant’s Ridge to see which individuals and teams qualify for the state alpine meet.
“The boys have a good chance to qualify as a team and the girls, if everyone has their best day, they could qualify as well,” Oberholtzer said.
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