Race No. 4 for the Northland Junior Race Series was held on “home hill” and the Lutsen Mountains Junior Ski Team showed their talents. Nine-year-old Reilly Wahlers charges toward a first place finish.
The Northland Junior Race Series (NJRS) continued with race No. 4 hosted by Lutsen Mountains on January 31. NJRS participants are Arrowhead Alpine Club, Duluth Alpine Club, Lutsen Mountains Junior Ski Team and Ski Gull Alpine Club. Nearly every Sunday over 100 alpine racers from ages 4-17 compete against each other skiing technically difficult, high-speed slalom and giant slalom courses. Sunny skies, below zero temperatures with 15-25-mile-an-hour winds, did not stop these young racers from dropping in on upper Koo-Koo for a steep and challenging race venue consisting of two giant slalom runs. Racers under eight years old competed on lower Koo-Koo. Thirty-seven racers from Team Lutsen’s contingent made their coaches and parents proud against tough competition with seven first-place finishes, 12 podiums (top three) and an additional eight 4th and 5th place finishes.
Skiing sensation Megan Lehto easily won first place in girls 14-15. In 14-15 boys, alpine phenom Anders Zimmer from Cook County and Duluth Alpine Club won first and had the fastest time of the day with 26.43 seconds.
Ava McMillan put up a solid performance against a very competitive field.
Luke Fenwick (5th) and Kyle Martinson (8th) were training for high school sectionals. Theyskied hard and had a blast.
Colin Berglund, who was in third place after his first run, went all out in his second attempt and fell near the top. Showing tremendous effort, he skied the rest of the course on one ski and received a big round of applause from the fans lining the finish.
Charlie Lawler (2nd) and Owen Hoglund (4th) showed they have what it takes in boys 12-13.
Ava McMillan, in first place after a stellar first run, bobbled precariously in her second and still went home with a second place medal by a mere two tenths of a second. She was followed by fellow 12-13 girls Danielle Hansen (10th); Lauren Thompson (11th); team veteran Haley Yoki, who fell in her second run (12th); and Libby Zafft (14th). Madysen McKeever put together two strong runs, fnishing 3rd. Morgan Weyrens-Welch was close behind in 4th and Alyssa Martinson (7th) wrapped up 10-11 girls.
Masen McKeever enjoys a great run through the course.
Feeling the need for speed in 10-11 boys, Will Lamb won first place with 27.52 seconds—nearly 8/10 of a second over longtime rival and top Central Division J5 USSA racer Wyatt Obey.
He was followed by strong performances by Logan Backstrom (5th), Damian Zimmer less than one second behind, posting the best run of his career (6th); Eric Lawler (8th); and newcomers to the team Jack Viren (9th); Ezra Lunde (10th); and Kyle Wiegele (11th).
Cleaning house in 8-9 girls (and boys!), rising junior alpine star Reilly Wahlers added another first-place medal to her collection of hardware. Close behind, with the fun factor on high, teammates Claire LaVigne (4th); Sela Backstrom (8th); and team newcomer Elsa Lunde (15th) are showing remarkable improvement. Will Surbaugh propelled himself (5th) just ahead of best friend Lynden Blomberg (7th) and Caleb Phillips (8th) rounding out boys 8-9.
Sela Backstrom shows good form, edging her way to the finish.
Cruising to the podium, 6-7 girls Halle Lamb (1st) followed by Bianca Zimmer (3rd) were all smiles at the awards ceremony with medals around their necks. In 6-7 boys, after two secondplace finishes this season, Masen McKeever put victory in his sights, used home hill advantage and won first place. Muchimproved Riley Tarver (4th) and new recruit Kevin Viren (5th) squeezed into the top five. Molly LaVigne won another firstplace medal in girls five and under. Cayden Zimmer’s ski racing debut earned him a second place in boys 5 and under.
Continuing a long tradition of alpine ski racing at Lutsen Mountains, over 40 volunteers worked hard to put on another great event for an impressive group of Northland athletes. The next race for the Junior Ski Team will be at Spirit Mountain on Sunday, February 7th at 11:00 a.m.
Will Surbaugh having a blast on Koo-Koo.
Madysen McKeever makes 24 turns look easy.
Leave a Reply