CCHS boys’ and girls’ alpine teams win Sections, heading for state!

The boys’alpine ski team captured the Section 7A title on Tuesday, February 7, and will advance to the Minnesota high school state meet on February 14 at Giant’s Ridge. From left to right, Andrew Hallberg, Goshi Dimitrov, Finn Taylor, Hans Mehlhalf, Cy Oberholtzer, Ben Obinger, Ray Dressely, Graham Oberholtzer, Noah Smith, Knut Remmen, and Ryland Brown. Photos courtesy of Melissa Dressely

Has Cook County ever won the girls and boys team titles at the Section 7A Alpine ski meet? Not in recent history, and maybe never, but this year the gold standard for boys and girls slalom skiing in the Northland sits squarely in Cook County.

With five skiers in the top fifteen, the Cook County boys’ alpine ski team easily came out on top in the 18-team Section 7A state qualifying meet held Tuesday, February 7, at Giant’s Ridge.

Ray Dressely claimed the Section 7A Alpine crown, Cy Oberholtzer took third, Goshi Dimitrov eighth, Graham Oberholtzer ninth, and Finn Taylor was fourteenth.

While it was expected that the boys would have an excellent chance to qualify for state, it was far less certain the girls would be able to do so. Head Coach John Oberholtzer said his girls’ team would have to have a perfect meet at Sections to qualify for state, but he didn’t doubt they could pull it off, and, by golly, they did! Kalina Dimitrova led the way with a third-place finish, Genevieve Silence was fourth, Sophia Blanck fifteenth, and Liv Hedstrom placed twenty-first.

Here is the small but mighty girls’ team from left to right: Sophia Blanck, Kalina Dimitrova, Genevieve Silence, Annabelle Silence (bottom), Liv Hedstrom and Ruby Gulstrand.

Both teams will be back at Giant’s Ridge on February 14 to compete against Minnesota’s best high school teams and individuals at the state alpine ski meet.