The young Nordic ski team had its best performance in several years at the Proctor Invite at Spirit Mountain. Freshman Joey Chmelik showed strong effort capturing 10th place.
The young Cook County High School Nordic Vikings had their best performance in several years last Friday at the Proctor Invite held at Spirit Mountain.
The Vikings varsity is comprised mainly of freshmen and sophomores who are transitioning from very successful junior high racing to highly competitive varsity races. Friday’s race proves that these dedicated athletes are making this transition extremely well.
The first race was varsity boys. Sophomore Kieran Scannell, back in action from illness, led the way finishing 16th, only 27 seconds from 7th place. Freshman Hank Bemlott had his best varsity finish placing 26th, followed by sophomore Ben Seaton and junior Alex Ditmanson to round out the four scoring skiers for the Vikings. The varsity boys finished 5th of nine teams and have the potential to finish much higher in future races.
Next up were varsity girls, and sophomore Shelby Ahrendt and freshman Audrey Summers raced for the Vikings. Shelby captured her first varsity top 10 and Audrey finished 21st. This point combination captured 7th place even though all the other schools had four racers.
Freshman Hank Bemlott had his best varsity finish at the Proctor Invite, placing 26th.
The Vikings continued their strong effort in the boys’ junior varsity as freshman Levi Axtell placed 9th and rapidly improving freshman Joey Chmelik captured 10th. Senior Daniel Ditmanson had a strong race finishing 16th in a deep field.
Senior Cheyenne Sorlie led the way for the Viking JV girls placing 23rd, followed by CeCe Schnobrich in 25th and Natalie Nalezny in 27th.
The junior high boys posted the strongest results as Nate Carlson captured 5th place followed closely by 7th grader Will Seaton in 8th place. Dylan Deschampe finished 25th to round out the Vikings’ scoring.
In the junior high girls’ race, Abbey Sutton finished 35th – an excellent result for a first year skier new to the sport.
The Vikings compete next at the Marshall Sprints on Saturday, January 22. Mark your calendars for the Vikings’ only home meet of the year, the Cook County Invitational, held on Friday, February 4 at the Pincushion Mountain Ski Trails.
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