Mara MacDonell, No. 85 led the girls’ cross country ski team at the Two Harbors Invitational with a time of 30:06 for the 6k distance. MacDonnell ended up 29th place.
The Cook County Nordic Ski Team traveled to the Korkki Nordic Ski Center in Duluth on January 3 to compete in the Two Harbors Invite. It is not just the racing that makes this trip special for our team. The place itself is very special. Ski center just does not describe it well. It’s really a cozy, rustic cabin in the woods with a woodstove and ski memorabilia covering the walls paneled with knotty pine. Korkki Nordic was created by Charlie Banks in the 1950s as single diagonal track through the woods and it remains much the same today.
The other reason it is special for us, is all of the familiar faces from cross country running season. Cook County and Two Harbors join together every August to comprise the team. Many of the kids that we compete against in Nordic skiing are teammates during the cross country running season. Competition aside, kids and their parents are all good friends and spend some time catching up.
The race itself was a 6k classic race for the varsity boys and girls. The team was shorthanded due to illness, but Levi Axtell, Will Seaton, and Nate Carlson had acceptable times that placed Levi 31st at 24:30, Will 37th at 25:35, and Nate 42nd at 26:36.
Left: In her first junior varsity race at the Korkki Nordic Ski Center, Sarah Larsen finished the 6k loop in 41:02 to finish 41st place. Above: Just a seventh grader, Andy Kern, No. 34 placed 32nd in the junior high division. Kern’s 5k time was 24:13.
Mara MacDonell steadily improves with each race and ended up 29th with a time of 30:06. Senior Sarah Larsen gave it her all in her first JV race. Sarah covered the 6k loop in 41:02 finishing in 41st.
Pete Summers and Sean MacDonell continued to race well in the junior high division. Pete was 5th at 16:22 and Sean 6th at 16:25. Seventh-grader Andy Kern finished the race in 32nd place with a time of 24:13.
Matea Acero and Brenna Hay are both 1st year skiers and continue to improve their skills and race times. Matea finished 25th in the junior high race with a time of 23:09 and Brenna 34th with a time of 25:25.
Next up for the Cook County Nordic Vikings is the Cloquet- Esko-Carlton Invitational.
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