Nordic skiing: Pursuit race a ‘gut check’ for skiers

Nordic ski coach Joe Wacker said the teams’ new skiers had a “gut check” at last week’s pursuit race and some skiers stood out in the tough conference meet.

The Suburban East Conference MLK pursuit race on Jan. 16 included two races – classic and skate. Times are combined to determine team points.

“It was the first pursuit race of the season … and for a lot of our new skiers it was gut check time because they had not done that much racing in one day and the courses for each race were longer than what they have been accustomed to,” Wacker said.

In the boys race, East Ridge finished sixth with 275 points. Park was eighth with 95 points. Woodbury finished ninth of nine teams with 67 points.

The East Ridge girls team finished sixth with 300 points. Woodbury girls combined for 229 points and a seventh-place finish. Park girls were ninth with 137 points.

In the boys race, the top District 833 skier was Woodbury’s Lars Espe, who finished in 34th place with a total time of 37 minutes 9.1 seconds. East Ridge’s Erik Jorgensen skied to a total time of 37:21.6

“It was nice to see them perform so well and place so high in a very talented SEC race field,” Wacker said.

Park’s top boys finisher was Evan Bonneson at 45:17.6, which put him in 51st place.

East Ridge’s Melanie Rabino was the top District 833 skier in the girls race, finishing in 31st place with a combined time of 42:22.3. Fellow Raptor Hannah Strom’s 42:44.2 was good for 33rd place.

“Hannah Strom had another excellent race which is something we as a coaching staff have grown accustomed to,” Wacker said. “She has gotten faster and faster with each race and it should be exciting to see how much more she improves before the season is over.”

Erika Storvick was Woodbury’s top finisher, completing the races in 46:22.5, good for 45th place overall. Park’s Sara Manship and Annie Lisson finished 51st and 52nd overall with times of 50:13.9 and 50:48.6, respectively.

The Nordic team traveled to Winona for a smaller race, Wacker said. Jorgensen posted his best classic time of the season, and Rabino finished second overall.

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