The Cook County/Silver Bay Alpine Vikings had a stellar start to the season on Friday, December 13. Left: Going out of the gate, 9th grader Damian Zimmer proved he has what it takes battling boot-deep ruts finishing 18th. Top: Seventh-grader and four-sport athlete Reilly Wahlers (middle) woke up Section 7A throwing down two excellent runs winning 3rd place overall. Pictured with Reilly are Hermantown racer McKenzie Bremel (1st) and CEC’s Sarah Severson (2nd). Above: Ninth-grader Will Lamb (left) skied two fast runs winning second place. He is pictured here on the podium with Duluth East racer Alex Bianchi (1st) and Hermantown’s Matt Borash (3rd).
Led by new Alpine Head Coach Charles Lamb, the Cook County/Silver Bay Alpine Vikings had an excellent showing at the first downhill ski race of the season held at Lutsen Mountains on Friday, December 13.
The weather was cold to say the least with sunny skies, a daytime high of -5 degrees and a steady north wind, which lasted until early afternoon. With no FIS race in the schedule on this day, all the best racers from the region were on hand for two action-packed slalom runs on Koo-Koo.
The Alpine Vikings are in a rebuilding mode after losing seniors from both squads. However, the young guns of this program basically picked up where they left off last year showing excellent results for what is likely going to be a promising season.
Sela Backstrom (7th grade) won the JV race by a large margin having the fastest time overall. Matter-offact, comparing her time to the varsity results, Sela would have placed 21st in a field of 60 varsity racers. Eric Lawler matched Sela’s performance, also winning the boys JV race by an impressive margin.
The girls’ varsity team was led by young Reilly Wahlers, a 7th grader who placed 3rd overall against a very talented and deep field. The girls’ team finished in third place out of nine regional teams and was just 7 points shy of a 2nd place team finish.
Following Reilly were team members Morgan Weyrens-Welch (10th grade), Megan Lehto and 9th grader Alyssa Martinson. These girls finished 12th, 17th and 20th overall. And to show yet further depth, Danielle Hansen and Melanie Stoddard finished in the top 50 percent of the field.
Course worker Bill Simonowicz said, “Deep ruts developed in the course right away from the abundance of natural snow this year. That, combined with the brutally cold temperatures really separated the all-mountain skiers from the athletes who just race.”
The tough conditions worked to our Vikings’ advantage. There were a lot of exciting spills and dramatic recoveries, which eliminated and cost many racers valuable time throughout the race.
The boys stepped up to the plate taking home a 2nd place team finish. Will Lamb and Logan Backstrom, both freshmen and members of last year’s state team, placed 2nd and 8th respectively in a deep field of 60 regional racers.
Other young guns followed Will and Logan including Damian Zimmer and Jack Viren (also freshman) both placing in the top 20 with Joe Borud following with a top 25 finish. Fellow Senior Co-Captain Charlie Lawler left the glory to his younger team members with a miscue on his first run.
Your Alpine Vikings Senior Tri-Captains for the 2013-14 season are Megan Lehto, Joe Borud and Charlie Lawler.
Next up is a December 20th race at Giants Ridge with the Christmas break following. Mark your calendars for the next home meet–the Moose Mountain Invitational on Friday, January 10.
Come on over and cheer on your Alpine Vikes…keep your fingers crossed, this is going to be a fun and exciting season.
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