Though small in numbers, the CCHS girls’ alpine team is big in talent. The Cook County girls’ alpine team traveled to Giants Ride on December 21 and came home with the first place Virginia Invitational plaque. From L-R are: Sela Backstrom, Halle Lamb, Reilly Wahlers, Elsa Lunde and Kalina Dimitrova. Below: Sela Backstrom (8) and Ray Dressely speed down the hill to finish 7th and 10th respectively. Photo courtesy of Jenny Lamb
Reilly Wahlers placed third in the girls’ slalom competition to lead her team to victory, and Will Surbaugh took third in the boys’ slalom competition held at Giants Ridge on December 21.
Snow conditions were perfect with temperatures in the teens for the Virginia Invite. There were approximately 60 girls and 60 boys from eight Arrowhead conference schools competing in two runs on the Innsbruck Run.
Boys’ competition
“Will Surbaugh stepped up, putting together two awesome runs to take third place overall,” said head coach Charles Lamb.
“Seventh-grader Ray Dressely also had a great day,” added Lamb. “Tough, fast skiing earned him a trip to the stage for a 10th place ribbon!”
Lamb said eighth-grader Ben Obinger put two decent runs together to place 19th, followed by Elijah Blank who finished 23rd.
“Cy Oberholtzer pushed a little too hard in his first run and blew out on the icy pitch and was disqualified,” the coach said.
In the junior varsity (JV) competition, Andrew Hallberg just missed the JV podium with a fourth-place finish.
“Weston Herron had a good run going, but skied on the wrong side of the last gate,” said Lamb. “The referee didn’t notice, but Weston did the right thing and turned himself in to the race office and disqualified himself. He was recognized for good sportsmanship at the awards ceremony.”
Jack Borash of Hermantown won first place for the boys.
Duluth East took the team title with the Cook County boys finishing the day in fourth place.
Girls’ results
“Reilly Wahlers threw down two great runs and earned a trip to the podium, landing third place overall,” Coach Lamb said.
“Sela Backstrom also skied two fast runs (7th), followed by Elsa Lunde (12th) and Halle Lamb (14th),” noted the coach, adding, “Kalina Dimitrova, a seventh grader, continues to improve, breaking into the top 20 with an 18th place finish.
“It was really a close race and when the snow dust settled Cook County girls won first place over Duluth East by a narrow margin!”
While other squads have vast numbers of participants, that’s not the case for Cook County this season.
“Were lacking depth on our teams this year, but the kids are making up for it with great individual performances which led to the girls’ team victory,” Lamb said. “It will not be easy to repeat.
Duluth East has a deep team, and Hermantown is a speedy team.”
The girls’ overall winner was Kendra Winberg of Hermantown.
While the ski team is small in numbers, the kids who are out are very dedicated.
“We had well attended, awesome training over the holiday break before the blizzard. The 30-plus inches of snow made training on New Year’s Eve pretty challenging! Most of the team skied some really nice powder in their free time as well,” Lamb said.
The next race, the Hibbing Invite, will already have taken place by press time. Go Vikes!
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