Thirty-six racers from the Lutsen Junior Alpine Club competed on Koo-Koo at Lutsen Mountains on Sunday, January 26. Above: Birthday girl Katie Peck focused on the course. Left: Weston Heeren holds his form between gates. Below left: Team veteran Lauren Thompson skis to a second place finish.
Race No. 3 of the Northland Junior Race Series was held on Koo-Koo at Lutsen Mountains on January 26. Thirty-six racers from the Lutsen Junior Alpine Club attended the two-run Giant Slalom event competing in a field of 86 area alpine skiers from Team Duluth, Giants Ridge, Brainerd and Mont Du Lac. By this winter’s standards the weather forecast was favorable— light southeast winds, high temperature of 3 degrees F and the possibility of up to one inch of fresh snow.
The early morning conditions on Koo- Koo were excellent but by the beginning of the first run it was snowing really hard, reducing visibility to about 75 yards. By the end of the first run over five inches of snow had accumulated!
The action started when the first forerunner, Senior CCHS Alpine Captain Megan Lehto, threw down a nice smooth run. We could tell the course would ski well and timing was good to go. Second forerunner and new CCHS principal Adam Nelson charged out of the gate and ripped an exciting, fast run. Coach John Oberholtzer said, “Wow, he has obviously done this before!”
In the under 6 group, AnnaBelle Silence won first place!
In 6 and 7 boys and girls Alessandra Duclos and Ray Dressely skied great and won first place, followed by Sol Nies (4th). In 8 and 9 boys and girls Weston Heeren made all the right moves (2nd). Tristan Surbaugh continues to improve (3rd) followed by teammate Noah Haussner (5th) and Cayden Zimmer (6th).
Moving on to 10-11 boys and girls Masen McKeever continues to go really fast. He defended home turf throwing down two fantastic runs winning another first place finish followed by Riley Tarver (2nd).
As the day continued on thankfully the snow let up and the skies began to clear for the second run.
In 12 and 13 boys and girls, skiing in her backyard Sela Backstrom flew down the icy track, clung tenaciously to her line, fighting to hold a tuck anywhere she could on both runs easily winning first place! She was followed by teammate Hanna Borson (3rd), Bianca Zimmer (4th) and True Nies (5th) for a near clean sweep of the top five. Will Surbaugh risked it all winning (1st) followed by friend Ole Sorensen (4th).
In 14 and 15 boys and girls, team veteran Madysen McKeever had a rock solid lead after her first attempt and held on in her second run winning first place. Logan Backstrom put together two stellar runs winning first place with the fastest combined time of the day of 49.67. He was followed by Will Lamb (2nd) and Ezra Lunde (3rd) for a clean sweep of the podium for Lutsen Alpine!
In 16 and up Lauren Thompson skied great and won second place.
There are over 50 kids signed up for the Lutsen Junior Alpine Club this season. Returning coaches Rick Backstrom and Molly Wickwire are working with our new lead coach Baiers Heeren and assistants John Oberholtzer and Paul Goettl. The team trains on Tuesday and Friday evening under the lights at Lutsen Mountains and races in the Northland Junior Race Series on Sundays. The kids are having a blast!
The next race for Team Lutsen will be held at Giants Ridge on February 9.
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