Above: Reilly Wahlers and Will Lamb at the Section 7 Alpine ski meet at Giants Ridge on February 4. They advanced to State. Left: The sections team members were (L-R, front) Morgan Weyrens Welch, Megan Lehto, Alyssa Martinson, Ava McMillan, Reilly Wahlers and Sela Backstrom. (L-R, back) Jack Viren, Joe Borud, Charlie Lawler, Logan Backstrom, Will Lamb, and Damian Zimmer.
The Section 7 Alpine Ski Meet was held on February 4 at Giants Ridge. Six boys and six girls were selected to represent the Cook County High School section team; race results, sportsmanship and attendance are the criteria to survive the cut and compete at sections.
Our racers skied in a field of 121 boys and 114 girls from 20 teams including: Centennial, Denfeld, Andover, 2013 Section 7 Boys’ Champions Hermantown, Chisago Lakes, 2013 Section 7 Girls’ Champions Duluth East, Cloquet- Esko-Carlton, Anoka, Irondale, Coon Rapids, 2013 Section 7 Girls’ Runner Up Mounds View, Virginia, Champlin Park, Blaine, Hibbing, Forest Lake and Duluth Marshall. New to Section 7 this year is 2013 Boys’ State runner-up Stillwater, Mahtomedi and White Bear Lake.
The weather on race day was cold, minus 20 degrees F in the early morning with the temperature topping out around 0 degrees F with light winds and sunny skies. Team Manager Roman Schnobrich has done a great job this year of managing the transportation of the racers’ coats and ski pants down to the finish. When it is this cold we don’t want anyone on the chairlift in their GS suits. Austrian exchange student Sophie Honeder has been a great team photographer.
The action started at 10 a.m with the girls on the steep pitch of Helsinki and the boys on the more moderate slope of Innsbruck.
Seventh-grader Reilly Wahlers was up on the start ramp surrounded by the fastest girls in Section 7, most of them juniors and seniors. She seemed pretty focused, hiding any nervous tension. I gave her a quick course report provided by Coach Rick Backstrom who was positioned in the middle of the hill, cranked up her bindings one more notch, crossed my fingers and moved over to the boys’ side. Coach Jim Vick and her teammates cheered her off the start ramp.
Reilly skied her best, finishing 15th, followed by Megan Lehto who blew out on a tough turn but finished. Ava McMillan threw down a nice run (27th), Morgan Weyrens-Welch pushed the limit and blew out on the same turn as Megan, hiked and also finished. Next up was Alyssa Martinson who was having a great run but the skier ahead of her had crashed and that interfered with her run. She did everything correctly like she was coached and was granted a re-run (47th). Skiing from the back of the pack, seventh-grader Sela Backstrom stunned the crowd at the finish area with a smoking fast time and 31st place.
Over on the boys’ side, ninthgrader Will Lamb prepared for his first run. Like his teammate Reilly he was surrounded by the section’s top junior and senior athletes. At the section meet, if your team is seriously in the running for one of the two coveted spots that advance to state, one strategy is to throttle back your skiers in the first run and play it a little safe to prevent a mistake that could cost the whole team.
For our young Viking squad it would be a long shot to make state as a team this year, especially with the addition of Stillwater and Mahtomedi. Will’s strategy on this day would be to throw down absolutely the fastest first run he could get away with and try to capitalize on whoever would be playing it safe. He had a powerful start, made all the right moves with no mistakes and skied to 5th place!
Next up, Logan Backstrom charged down the course, taking a lot of chances (20th), followed by Charlie Lawler, Jack Viren, Joe Borud and Damian Zimmer who crashed but hiked to earn a second run.
The afternoon courses would be switched, with the girls over on Innsbruck and the boys on Helsinki. The girls’ course looked good, one difficult delay gate just before the flats but turny and skiable just like we have trained on at Lutsen. The boys’ course was pretty big and cranky on the top of the headwall but over three-quarters of the course was wide open and pretty straight right to the finish line. It looked like it could be a drag race for big kids. This could pose a problem for our young guns, being so lightweight and sporting a little shorter ski than the older, bigger boys.
After consulting with our bus driver, former CCHS football and Alpine-coach Lyle Anderson, the same strategy would be used for the second run; no playing it safe for our skiers today. A slow run in this field would be almost the same as a crash. Will attacked the course, pushed it to the limit and completed (13th). Logan did the same, blowing a little more smoke off his skis on the headwall than his teammate (20th). Charlie Lawler skied his best and stayed on his feet, followed by Joe Borud, Jack Viren and Damian Zimmer who pushed the line a little too far and went down.
Reilly Wahlers threw down a fantastic second run (11th), followed by Ava McMillan (26th). Sela Backstrom skied fast and consistent (30th) and Alyssa Martinson completed the course (46th). Megan Lehto and Morgan both skied great second runs but only the top four skiers times are used in the team score.
One cool thing going on at most ski races these days is watching the race in real time, on live-timing.com. The hosts of the section meet are old school and shut live-timing down so nobody would know the results prior to the awards ceremony. You can be pretty sure who will advance individually up to 10th place from the scoreboard, but it is pretty tough to figure the team scores.
So after an hour, a suspenseful awards ceremony commenced. It varies from year to year how many individuals qualify for State; it is based on how many team scorers end up in the top 10. This year 14 girls and 12 boys would advance along with the top two teams of each gender.
Reilly Wahlers breathed a sigh of relief when she was called to the front to accept her 11th place medal! Will Lamb was pretty sure he was safe, but also looked relieved as he went to the front to accept his 7th place medal. Our girls’ team finished the day in 6th place and the boys in 5th. Two racers advanced to State and everyone gave it their all at sections, they should be proud of their results!
The State meet takes place at press time, so stay tuned for the details.
Leave a Reply