Boys take another title, state tourney in view

By JEFF NORTON

SPORTS EDITOR

Northwest Suburban Conference Championships

Despite being outnumbered by over a thousand against some of the schools of the Northwest Suburban Conference, the Chisago Lakes boys alpine ski team laughed off the size difference and finished their conference sweep to earn the NWSC championship at the Centennial Invitational last week.

Skiing up at Giants Ridge, Joe Cartier recovered from a stumble last week to burn down the course on Thursday, Feb. 2. He finished the red course in the third fastest time at 38.6 seconds and buzzed through the blue course in the fourth fastest time at 36.14 seconds. His combined time of 1:14.74 was good enough for third place overall and 108 points.

He finished behind Taylor Lindy and Dan Koski of Centennial.

Despite Centennial’s one-two finish, the Wildcats had a one-two punch of their own with Cartier and Jake Sandgren. Sandgren finished in fifth place in the meet, skiing the sixth fastest time on the red course and the fifth fastest time on the blue course.

His runs combined for a 1:16.07, good enough for fifth place in the meet and 106 team points for CL.

What really propelled the Wildcats to their win, however, was the skiing of their next three guys. Although the ‘Cats could only use four scores towards their team overall, Anders Brown, Hunter Haas and Tanner Rivard continually pushed each other the rest of the way and that earned CL the victory.

Brown finished in 16th place, scoring 95 points for CL, Haas finished in 17th place to earn 94 points and Rivard came in 20th, which would’ve earned the team 91 points.

Brown was a hint slow in the red course, finishing in 25th place after a 42.40 run, but he recovered nicely for a 39.68 on the blue course, the 14th fastest time. His combined time left him in 16th.

Haas had an eerily similar run to Brown. He finished the red run in 27th place with a run of 42.50 seconds, but improved dramatically in his blue run, finishing in 39.68 seconds, the 15th quickest run. 

Rivard had a 41.92 to be place himself 20th after the red course, but he skied the blue course in 40.71, dropping him down to 20th, still a phenomenal finish out of 112 skiers.

The boys finished in first with 403 points. Virginia finished in second with 378 points, Cloquet was third with 375 and conference rival Centennial came in fourth with 364 points.

Girls

The girls made some nice progress, and only finished four points behind their conference rival Centennial, but they still finished fourth as Cloquet and Forest Lake both had impressive showings on the course.

The Wildcats were of course led by Katie Rayer. The senior has been an unstoppable force on the slopes all year, and this event was no different. She cruised down the hill to finish the red course in 39.59 seconds, second best on the day. She really made up her time in the blue course, skiing a day’s best 45.25 seconds on the run. Her total time of 1:24.84 left her in first place again, a place she’s been familiar with this year.

Ellie Frischmon had a nice run for the Wildcats in a secondary role, finishing with the 19th best time on each run and 18th place overall with a time of 1:35.05.

Ashley Angel wasn’t far behind. She had the 24th best red time and the 26th best red time to finishing in 22nd overall. 

The final varsity score for the Wildcats was Kate Swanson. She finished in 47th place with a combined time of 1:46.48, earning 60 points for CL.

As a team, the Wildcats scored 340 points to finish in fourth place. Cloquet won the vent with 368 points, Forest Lake was second with 358 and Centennial rounded out the top three with 344 points.

Northwest Suburban Conference Championships

Despite being outnumbered by over a thousand against some of the schools of the Northwest Suburban Conference, the Chisago Lakes boys alpine ski team laughed off the size difference and finished their conference sweep to earn the NWSC championship at the Centennial Invitational last week.

Skiing up at Giants Ridge, Joe Cartier recovered from a stumble last week to burn down the course on Thursday, Feb. 2. He finished the red course in the third fastest time at 38.6 seconds and buzzed through the blue course in the fourth fastest time at 36.14 seconds. His combined time of 1:14.74 was good enough for third place overall and 108 points.

He finished behind Taylor Lindy and Dan Koski of Centennial.

Despite Centennial’s one-two finish, the Wildcats had a one-two punch of their own with Cartier and Jake Sandgren. Sandgren finished in fifth place in the meet, skiing the sixth fastest time on the red course and the fifth fastest time on the blue course.

His runs combined for a 1:16.07, good enough for fifth place in the meet and 106 team points for CL.

What really propelled the Wildcats to their win, however, was the skiing of their next three guys. Although the ‘Cats could only use four scores towards their team overall, Anders Brown, Hunter Haas and Tanner Rivard continually pushed each other the rest of the way and that earned CL the victory.

Brown finished in 16th place, scoring 95 points for CL, Haas finished in 17th place to earn 94 points and Rivard came in 20th, which would’ve earned the team 91 points.

Brown was a hint slow in the red course, finishing in 25th place after a 42.40 run, but he recovered nicely for a 39.68 on the blue course, the 14th fastest time. His combined time left him in 16th.

Haas had an eerily similar run to Brown. He finished the red run in 27th place with a run of 42.50 seconds, but improved dramatically in his blue run, finishing in 39.68 seconds, the 15th quickest run. 

Rivard had a 41.92 to be place himself 20th after the red course, but he skied the blue course in 40.71, dropping him down to 20th, still a phenomenal finish out of 112 skiers.

The boys finished in first with 403 points. Virginia finished in second with 378 points, Cloquet was third with 375 and conference rival Centennial came in fourth with 364 points.

Girls

The girls made some nice progress, and only finished four points behind their conference rival Centennial, but they still finished fourth as Cloquet and Forest Lake both had impressive showings on the course.

The Wildcats were of course led by Katie Rayer. The senior has been an unstoppable force on the slopes all year, and this event was no different. She cruised down the hill to finish the red course in 39.59 seconds, second best on the day. She really made up her time in the blue course, skiing a day’s best 45.25 seconds on the run. Her total time of 1:24.84 left her in first place again, a place she’s been familiar with this year.

Ellie Frischmon had a nice run for the Wildcats in a secondary role, finishing with the 19th best time on each run and 18th place overall with a time of 1:35.05.

Ashley Angel wasn’t far behind. She had the 24th best red time and the 26th best red time to finishing in 22nd overall. 

The final varsity score for the Wildcats was Kate Swanson. She finished in 47th place with a combined time of 1:46.48, earning 60 points for CL.

As a team, the Wildcats scored 340 points to finish in fourth place. Cloquet won the vent with 368 points, Forest Lake was second with 358 and Centennial rounded out the top three with 344 points.