Joey Chmelik shows strong form in the Classic portion of the Cook County Pursuit invitational held on Friday, January 31 on the Pincushion Mountain cross country ski trails.
Nine boys’ teams and seven girls’ teams competed in the Cook County Freestyle/Classic Pursuit Nordic Ski meet held on Pincushion Mountain cross country ski trails on Friday, January 31.
Skiers competed in cold clear weather at the start of the meet, but as racing continued it turned cloudy and snow fell, slowing times down.
Both Duluth East’s girls’ and boys’ teams won the varsity competition. Cook County didn’t have any girls ski in the varsity race, and only three boys skied in the varsity race. The top four individuals scored for their team, so CCHS didn’t have enough boys to place in the varsity competition.
Sean MacDonell led the boys with a 33rd place in the freestyle division with a time of 19:53.
MacDonell was followed by Will Seaton who was about 1:10 back of him in 48th place and Joey Chmelik who was in 70th place, three minutes behind MacDonell.
MacDonell finished 28th in the Classic Division and ended up in 28th overall when his two times were combined.
Hey, hey, hey! Here comes Brenna Hay in the girls’ junior varsity race. Hay finished in 21st place overall.
Will Seaton moved up to 37th place in the Classic Race and finished 44th overall.
Joey Chmelik moved up 20 spots to 50th place in the Classic Division and finished 63rd overall.
Seventh-grader Will Ramberg finished in 9th place in the Junior High 2.8k Classic Race with a time of 12:29. Not far behind Will was Andy Kern, who placed 19th with a time of 13:45.
Brenna Hay was the team’s lone representative in the 5.3 K junior varsity girls’ race. Brenna placed 21st in 37:33.
Four girls competed in the girls’ 2.8 k classic junior high race and made a strong showing in a field of 44 skiers.
Eighth-grader Linnea Henrickson placed 12th in 14:57 while her sister Robin, a sixthgrader, placed 16th in 15:16. Marin Hay wasn’t far behind in 22nd place with a time of 16:14 and Lucy Callendar was close behind in 27th place with a time of 16:51.
Head Coach Adam Harju said, “I think everyone did really well. All of the kids moved up in the Pursuit competition and the middle schoolers all skied really well.
Sean MacDonell had the best day for the boys’ varsity team, placing 28th overall in a strong, deep field of regional skiers.
“Overall it was positive experience for our kids and the other teams love coming here. I want to give a big thank you to all of the volunteers who showed up and helped out. It was well appreciated,” said Harju.
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