Nordic ski team off to the races!

Just a sophomore, Olya Wright (3) powers up the hill at the Pincushion Nordic Invite. Wright had a great race, taking first place over some very strong competition in the 5k event. Staff photos Brian Larsen

Two Harbors Invite

“The Two Harbors Invite at Korkki Nordic is always an entertaining race as the teams ‘go retro’. While our skiers are serious about skiing their best, we also have a lot of fun along the way, so we pulled out the team’s old suits and made quite the sensation!” That’s how head coach Jeanne Wright introduced the classic-style races off of Homestead Road near Duluth. This system is known for its “close-tonature” feeling with its single track, narrow trails. Our skiers fared well while learning to be strategic and aggressive in passing their competitors on the trail.

The North Shore Storm had several participants in the boys’ varsity 6K race, all from Two Harbors. Cyrus Myers placed 17th (22:57.2) followed by Ian Thorpe 32nd (25:06.4), Elijah Smith 36th (27:44.6) and AJ Mattson in 40th (29:58.6). Top finisher was Ian Morse of Duluth East (19:13.7).

The varsity girls skied with determination on what all reported as a slow 6K course. Cook County’s Olya Wright received recognition for her 6th-place finish in 23:38.9 while Autumn Smith (TH) placed #30 in 27:11.5 followed by Two Harbor’s Jocelyn Carr at #41 (28:37.3), Cecelia Chmelik #45 (30:39.9) and Martine Redshaw #47 (31:27.8). Lily Brown from Duluth East earned first place in 22:10.6.

Martine Redshaw (13) continues to improve each cross country ski meet. Martine placed 20th at the Pincushion Nordic Invite.

Cook County did not have skiers in the junior varsity races, but we entered a few in the junior high races. In the boys’ race Ethan Fish, with just this season on Nordic skis, finished in the middle at 31st (21:19.4) while Eero Moody finished #53 (27:41.1).

To end the event on a high note, four junior high girls on the North Shore team finished well on the 4K course: London Smith #2 in 18:36.8, Ava Oswald- Swenson #6 in 19:12.2, Cook County’s Emma Crook #10 in 19:45.7 and Signe Myers #13 in 19:52.7.

Pincushion Nordic Invite, Olya Wright takes first place!

Last Friday as volunteers, parents, coaches and skiers busily helped with preparations to host the Cook County Invite at the Pincushion trails, the sun shone brightly, and the wind howled relentlessly. No matter. Everyone was excited for the races to begin and to race on our home course which was set up to take advantage of as many hills as possible.

At this event, the varsity girls were skating the 5K course first. After a few inches of snow, there were guesses that the course would be slow. Reports were that skiers were a little sluggish on the hill out of the stadium. If the starts were slow, the finishes were exciting and energetic. To start off the event, and to top it off, hometown skier, Olya Wright, earned her first varsity win (16:49.2). And she achieved it on her home course, edging her section competitors Della Bettendorf from Procator/ Hermantown (16:57.4) and Zoe Devine of Ely (17:11.2). Strong performances by Olya’s North Shore teammates added to an exciting race: Autumn Smith #6 (19:38.4), Lamar Gordon #17 (21:57.2), Martine Redshaw #20 (22:37.3) and Cecelia Chmelik #26 (25:25.5).

Olya had this to say about her memorable race, “In the past few weeks I have been working on improving my V2 and downhill technique. So, going into Friday’s race my strategy was rather simple: push my V2 tempo, maximize on the down hills, and power the up hills, especially the up hills. Despite this, I still finished with way too much energy, so next race I’m planning on going EXTRA hard on the ups and flats. Overall, though, it was a great race and, as we haven’t had a skate race since the beginning of the season, extremely fun!”

The next race featured the North Shore’s varsity skiers from Two Harbors: Cyrus Myers in 11th (16:56.5), Ian Thorpe 16th (17:18.3), AJ Mattson 28th (21:03.5) and Elijah Smith 29th (21:28.5). First place went to Gabriel Pointer of Ely in 15:05.7.

The three junior varsity girls also entertained the spectators with an exciting 5K race and commendable finishes. Two Harbor’s Jocelyn Carr placed 1st (21:06.7) and Cook County’s Emma Crook took 5th (22:14.0). Also from Cook County, Valerie Hurth earned 10th in her first junior varsity race (24:35.3). Eighth-grader Everett Hurth was the lone junior varsity boy from the North Shore team. He skated his first 5K in 20:38.6 for 11th place.

There are several strong skiers coming up at the junior high level. Again, there were admirable performances by the North Shore junior high girls in their 3k skate race. London Smith finished 1st (12:19.7) followed by Cook County’s Quincy Hurth in 6th place in her first-ever race (14:11.6). Other teammates contributed with fine finishes: Signe Myers #9 (14:32.8), Eva Oswald-Swenson #11 (14:32.8), Harper Smith #14 (16:01.6), MJ Wharton #17(18:06.7), Amelia Mattson #18 (18:10.7) and Leah Belmore #21 (25:25.9).

The last race of the day featured the junior high boys. Ethan Fish added a nice 10th-place finish. Odin Hansen and Steinar Anderson finished 11th and 13th respectively. Lute Jansen finished 15th, completing his first skating race.

Coach Jeanne Wright had this to say to her skiers the next day, “I want to say how proud your coaches are of all of you. Yesterday was a great example of the grit and perseverance that you have been demonstrating all season. No matter the temps, no matter the wind, no matter what hill, you have risen to the challenge.”

The team would like to thank all the volunteers that made this event possible. Thanks to all who came early and all who left late, and to those who shared their energy and good spirits in between. Special thanks to the North Shore Ski and Run Club, Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop and Bearskin Lodge, our sponsors.