For the pursuit race, skiers competed in the morning in a 4.8K classic race. Those skiers then had about a three hour break before skiing again in a 4.8K skate race. Both the boys and girls varsity teams had five skiers in the pursuit. The sprint relay consists of two team members that take turns skiing a short, 1.5K route. Each team member skis the route twice with a tag-off in the middle. The JV competed in a skate 4.5K and the MS raced a skate 3.5K route.
The varsity girls finished the day in fourth place. In the pursuit race, Estee Versteeg brought home some hardware finishing third overall. Sarah Grotberg also finished in the top 20 in 13th place. Alexis Wellman and Ali Bredenberg qualified for the finals round of the sprint relay and finished 3rd overall. For the boys varsity, Oliver Thorson, Tommy Erickson, and Micah Mouser all finished in the top 20 in 13th, 14th, and 15th places. Nick Flugstad had his personal best with a 25th place finish. Jaden Miller and Jackson Lysne were the boys sprinters, and they placed 5th overall after qualifying for the finals. Combined, the boys varsity finished in fourth place.
Oliver Thorson powering his way to the finish. PHOTO PROVIDED
The JV and Junior High races also had some highlight finishes. Violet McConn finished 15th in the girls JV race. The girls JV finished in fourth overall. For the JV boys, Eric Swanson took home a 7th place ribbon. Finally, the Junior High girls finished the day in third overall with a number of top 20 finishes. Havilah McConn took home a 4th place ribbon. Maura Rogness finished in 11th, Evie VerSteeg placed 16th, and Lydia Uggerud finished in 19th.
It was a beautiful day and it sure is encouraging to see our kids doing so well. For our varsity teams, there's a very small point spread between 2nd through 5th places, which means anything can happen at our upcoming section meet. I asked Estee Versteeg how her race went today. She said, "The race went well. There were a bunch of fast skiers that pushed each other, and that helped me to ski faster."
www.pickleevents.com has the full results. Next week the Otter Nordic Ski team will ski at the Little Falls Invite on Thursday.
