Levi Axtell shows his determination as he poles and skates hard to the finish line. Levi placed 27th at the Two Harbors Invitational meet held at Coleraine on January 3.
Despite low snow conditions, it is business as usual for the Cook County Nordic ski team. So far this year all but one of our meets have been relocated to facilities with snowmaking capabilities. On January 3, the team made the long trip to Coleraine, Minnesota to ski in the Two Harbors Invitational held at Mount Itasca, on the National Biathlon Training Center course.
Excellent classic tracks on the manmade snow had the racers almost forgetting about our current snow deficit. Ben Seaton (junior), Levi Axtell (sophomore) and Joey Chmelik (sophomore) raced in the varsity 5k race.
Ben placed 21st with a time of 17:34, Levi, 27th, with a time of 18:21, and Joey, 32nd, with a time of 18:42.
In the varsity girls’ 5k Audrey Summers (sophomore) and Mara MacDonell (junior) raced against defending state champions Duluth East who had seven out of the top 10 finishers in this race.
Audrey finished 24th with a time of 20:35 and Mara, 39th, with a time of 24:06.
Ben Seaton, leading the Vikings’ boys’ cross country team, gave his all at the Two Harbors meet, finishing 21st with a time of 17:34 for the 5k race.
Our best finish of the day was by 8th grader Will Seaton who finished 8th in the JV 5K race with a time of 19:52. Nate Carlson (freshman) finished in 18th place with a time of 21:06.
Abbey Sutton (sophomore), our lone girl JV racer, finished the 5k classic race in 37:24, earning her 33rd place. Jaret Baker, a first-year racer (8th grade), participated in the jr. high division finishing the tricky 4k course in 34th place with a time of 26:24.
On Saturday, January 7, the Nordic team headed down the highway to Biwabik to attend the Giants Ridge Invite. This is the nation’s largest high school Nordic race with over 1,100 teenage ski racers from several states. The race ran smoothly with a steady stream of skiers leaving at 30-second intervals from 10:00 a.m. until late afternoon.
The race was a 5k skate race and was once again on manmade snow. Racing varsity for the Vikings were Audrey Summers, Mara MacDonell, Ben Seaton, Levi Axtell, Joey Chmelik. Junior varsity racers were Will Seaton and Nate Carlson. The skiers enjoyed the fast conditions and the warm weather.
The rest of the Viking Nordic team has been working hard to perfect their technique and they are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to race.
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