|
|
Valerie Hurth starts the first climb during the 1.8K race at the Proctor/Hermantown Invite. Photos courtesy of Andrea Hurth
Proctor/Hermantown Invite
The North Shore Storm Nordic Skiers were anxious to be on skis. Prior to the Proctor/Hermantown Invite on Thursday, December 9, Cook County skiers had faithfully attended dry land practices. A few days before the meet, it finally snowed. While all the Duluth area schools had trained on manufactured snow for more than two weeks at the Grand Avenue Nordic Center, most of the NS Storm skiers (including athletes from Two Harbors) had only been on skis for 3 days before the meet. Not to be deterred, all the kids were smiling and sporting great attitudes as they began warm-ups at Grand Avenue along with skiers from nine other teams.
The varsity girls were the first skiers to tackle the 5.4 kilometer course, a series of three shorter laps. A freestyle race with staggered starts, it challenged skiers to repeat a combination of climbs and descents. Sophomore Olya Wright started with the fastest girls and stayed in the thick of things with a 6th place finish (19:16.5) showing good early season technique. Senior Autumn Smith (TH) came in 34th (22:09.7). Sophomore Martine Redshaw, in her first ever varsity race, finished in 54th (25:22.2). The top finisher was Proctor/ Hermantown’s Della Bettendorf (18:50.9).
Everett Hurth shows good skating form at the Proctor Invite held at the Grand Avenue Nordic Center in Duluth.
The varsity boys skied next following the same 5.4K course. Junior Cyrus Myers (TH) was the lone North Shore participant among the varsity boys. Cyrus held steady in the middle of the pack finishing 25th (19:07.0). The top finisher was Duluth East’s Oliver Miatke (15:55.2). Duluth East claimed the top spot for both the boys’ and girls’ teams.
Junior varsity teams skied the same course twice for a 3.4K distance. Sophomore Jocelyn Carr (TH) was the only North Shore Junior varsity skier. She showed determination by sticking with the top racers and finished in 7th place (15:23.6). Grace McCormick from Duluth Denfeld took the top Junior varsity honors (14:05.5) in the girls’ race.
Our North Shore team has a great group of junior high skiers this year. The girls’ JH race was fun to watch. Racing just once around the course, they went all out. Eighth grader Emma Crook, an enthusiastic skate skier, raced to a 10th place finish (7:43.3). She was followed by her energetic teammates, 11th London Smith (7:45.8), 19th Valerie Hurth (8:40.6), 29th Naomi Tracy-Hegg (9:17.0), 41st MJ Wharton (9:58.8) and 42nd Amelia Mattson (10:08.8). Tuuli Rova from Duluth East earned 1st place (6:02.5).
The last racers to make their way around the course were the junior high boys. Eighth grader Everett Hurth, in his second year on the team, showed his strength as a skate skier. He finished in 18th place (7:53.7 ). Ethan Fish, 7th grade, is on cross-country skis for the first time this year. He showed a lot of athleticism, finishing 33rd (8:50.4). Isaac Danielson from Mount Itasca placed first (5:42.8).
The Cook County racers were encouraged by their teammates Leah Belmore, Quincy Hurth and Eero Moody who hope to ski in future events. They skied up and down as many hills as they could while making sure to support their friends.
Grand Rapids Skiathlon
After rain wreaked havoc on many ski trails in the Northland, many wondered if the skiathlon at the Mount Itasca Ski Center would be a go. The Cook County skiers were back to dry land exercises and games to keep motivated. The Grand Rapids coaches reported good conditions just prior to the races on December 18.
Participating teams were North Shore, Ely, Mesabi East and Grand Rapids. The event featured a 7.6K skiathlon for the varsity skiers. This required the skiers to do half the distance on skate skis with a quick change into classic skis for the remaining distance. Olya Wright placed 2nd (28.02.9) and Cecelia Chmelik took 23rd (41:36.6) in the varsity girls round. Zoe Devine of Ely was the top finisher (27:27.9). The girls from Ely took the team prize. Mesabi East won the boys varsity event.
Thanks to our Two Harbors partners, there were several entries in the JV girls’ and boys’ races. This event was a 5K freestyle (skate) race. A good effort was put forth by all. The boys’ results include: Cyrus Myers, 2nd (17:04.1); Ian Thorpe, 8th (19:02.4); Elijah Smith, 11th (19:02.4); Alex Matson, 13th (20:12.5). Ely’s Silas Solum posted the winning time (17:01.3).
The Junior varsity girls’ results included a nice 1st place finish by Autumn Smith (19:45.5). Jocelyn Carr and Lamar Gordon also placed in the top half, finishing 4th (20:22.1) and 11th (22:40.2) respectively.
The junior high girls skied a 3.3K freestyle race. We had a nice group of girls entered in this race also: Two Harbors’ London Smith finished 1st (13:26.9) followed by Emma Crook 2nd (13:56.5); Naomi Tracy-Hegg 6th (15:23.9); Ava Oswald-Swenson 11th (17:23.2) and Leah Belmore 19th (31:31.2).
Head Coach Jeanne Wright had this response to the day’s events, “The Mt. Itasca race was worth the effort of traveling! The snow conditions were great and fast. The hills offered technical challenges and everyone rose to the occasion. It was also a spectator’s dream – lot of opportunities to watch skiers climbing the hills, a short walk to see them zooming down in their tucks, and from the stadium area to catch the switching of skis,…way to go: Cece, Olya, Emma, Naomi, Leah (1st Nordic race), and Lute Jansen, who got lots of practice in skiing , climbing & tucking, too. Great job – such fun!”
Leave a Reply