Above: Reilly Wahlers carves the snow with her skis as she snaps the gate on her way down the hill. Left: Sela Backstrom, wearing bib No. 46, flies down the salmon course at Giants Ridge
Two of Minnesota’s best girl slalom skiers, CCHS juniors Reilly Wahlers and Sela Backstrom, skied well at the Minnesota State Alpine ski meet held Feb. 14 at Giants Ridge.
Wahlers led all Northland girls with her 17th-place finish. Reilly was 20th after her first run and moved up three spots after her second run. This was Wahlers’ fifth appearance at the state meet and her highest finish to date.
Still, as Viking head coach Charles Lamb noted, “Reilly left a little bit on the hill on her first run. I will leave it there.”
For Sela Backstrom, who placed 51st, this was her second individual qualifying time to make it to state. Backstrom’s combined time for the two runs was 1:27.05. Backstrom moved up 11 places after her first run where she finished 62.
“Both of our girls skied really tough and I am proud of them,” said Lamb.
The girls’ team finished third at Sections, narrowly missing qualifying as a team. “Everyone is returning next year, so anything is possible,” noted Lamb of his team’s chances of making it to State.
Becca Devine, a junior from Edien Prairie, won the competition with a time of 1:15.44. Wahlers’ time was 1:20.06.
Stillwater Area won the team title with 148 points over Mankato West, who was only one point behind with 147. CCHS placed third in the Sections with only the top two teams from each section making the tournament.
Hermantown’s Austin Danelski won the boys’ individual title, becoming the first boy from the Northland to win since Duluth East’s John McGreevy won in 1983. No boy from the CCHS team qualified for State this year.
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