GIANTS RIDGE— The largest high school ski meet in North America went off just fine here on Saturday despite the lack of snow that has hampered Nordic ski events and training in the region for weeks. Using an oval track with mostly man-made snow at the base of the alpine area, a total of 898 racers competed— and Ely skiers performed well in a very competitive field, according to Wolves Head Coach Todd Hohenstein. “Overall, it was a good showing by our team,” he said.
The boys team finished in 19th place out of the 52 teams that took part in Saturday’s contest, while the girls team took 25th in a 49-team field.
Senior Claire Blauch posted the top Ely finish among both teams, taking 31st in the morning’s classic race, in a field of 113 racers, with a time of 15:29.2. Junior Dylan Durkin notched the team’s best finish on the boys’ side, with a 35th place showing in the afternoon freestyle competition with a time of 11:44.8. Fellow junior Silas Solum wasn’t far behind, finishing 42nd with a time of 12:00 even.
In the boys’ classic competition, junior Eli Olson finished 41st in a field of 121 competitors, with a time of 13:42.6, while junior Milo McClelland posted a 65th place showing with a time of 14:18.0.
For the girls, junior Anna Dunn finished 43rd in the classic race with a time of 15:59.9.
The girls team had somewhat less success in the skate competition, with Ava Skustad as the team’s only top-half finisher, at 49th place with a time of 13:48.2.
Hohenstein was particularly pleased with the performances of his junior varsity skiers. Freshman Oliver Hohenstein finished third among 66 racers in the classic competition with a time of 13:21.0, while fellow freshman Aksel Skustad took sixth in a field of 75 in the freestyle race with a time of 11:48.5. Freshman George Sponholz finished 14th in the freestylve event with a time of 12:40.3.
As a team, the boys junior varsity squad finished in fourth place among more than 40 teams in the competition.
“These younger guys will help build out our section team at the end of the season and it’s great to see that they are competing at a high level with other teams from around the state,” said Hohenstein. “We are looking forward to consistent skiing on our course at Hidden Valley. With the snowfall over the weekend and the little snow showers here and there, we should be good to go. However, this season has taught us not to count on anything snow related until it’s on the ground.”