Left: Joe Rauzi led the way in the 3K skate race, earning 4th place with a time of 13:02.
On Friday, January 22, the Cook County High School ski team traveled to the Duluth East Invite which was held at the Snowflake Ski Center in Duluth. Ninth grader, Kieran Scannell set the tone for the day with an impressive 6th place finish in the skate race which had 79 varsity participants.
This was the first of two races for the day for Scannell, who was competing in the pursuit race that included a 5K skate race and a 5K classic race. Coach Mark Summers was pleased with Kieran’s performance. “Kieran’s skate race was the best result I have seen for a CCHS skier in many years,” said Summers. Later in the day Kieran raced the classic portion placing 27th, his overall place in the pursuit race was 16th in a field of 77 varsity skiers with a total time of 31:22.6 (14:08.8 skate and 17; 15.8 classic).
Shelby Ahrendt proved to be a tough competitor in the girls’ varsity pursuit race. Shelby was matched up against some of the top female high school skiers in the state from Ely, Duluth East and Grand Rapids. Shelby placed 25th out of 72 varsity girls in the skate race with a time of 17:47.9. Her classic time was 20:26.6 bringing her in at 24th place, with a total pursuit finish time of 38:14.5 placing her 27th out of 67 skiers.
CCHS Nordic skiers traveled to the Duluth East Invite on Friday, January 22 at the Snowflake Ski Center. Photo by Lynn Swanson Above: Kieran Scannell set the tone for the day with an impressive sixth place finish in the skate race. He later finished 27th in the classic race, for an overall 16th in a field of 77 varsity skiers.
The JV racers from Cook County had some fantastic results. Ben Seaton has been working this season to improve his skate technique and was rewarded with a 1st place finish in the 5K skate race beating the next fastest skier by 16 seconds. Alex Ditmanson placed 4th with a time of 18:22. Audrey Summers placed 4th in the girls JV skate race with a time of 22:04 and Karlee Axtell finished in 14th place.
The Nordic ski team is well represented in the junior high boys’ division. Currently we have nine very solid skiers; six of them competed in Friday’s race. There were 36 boys completing the 3K skate race. In 4th place from Cook County was Lino Rauzi with a time of 13:02— very impressive for a first year ski team member. Hank Bemlot was just three seconds behind in 5th place. Nate Carlson came in 14th, Pete Summers 27th, Ben Resek 33rd, and Will Seaton 34th. Brave and Gutsy, also known as Natalie Nalezny and Katrina Axtell competed in the girls’ junior high race after only three practices on skate skis. Natalie finished the race in 22:10.09 and Katrina’s time was 22:43 placing them 40th and 44th.
At press time, the Nordic ski team was preparing to host an invitational meet on Friday, January 29 at Pincushion Mountain. Races start at 11:00 a.m. and will run throughout the day. Several hundred skiers from approximately 10 schools will be fighting it out on a difficult 5k course.
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