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By JEFF NORTON

SPORTS EDITOR

Section 7 Championships

The Chisago Lakes boys alpine ski team has been on a tear all year. 

They’ve fought stiff competition, uncooperative weather and some inopportune falls.

But for every small misstep backwards, they’ve taken a huge leap forward, and it all came to fruition when they won Section 7 last week and earned a team berth in the state tournament at Giants Ridge in Biwabik.

Right when they needed their top skiers the most, everyone came through with a near flawless run.

Senior Joe Cartier finished second overall at the meet with a combined time of 1:11.70. His 37.34 on the red course was the second fastest on the day and his 34.36 on the blue course was the third fastest for the day.

Jake Sandgren skied his typical strong race, finishing in fourth place overall with a time of 1:13.94. He finished in fourth place on the red course with a time of 38.59 seconds and sixth place on the blue course with a time of 35.35 seconds.

Seventh grader Anders Brown, who is only 12 years old, finished in ninth place overall after posting a time of 1:16.51. He finished in 17th on the red course with a time of 40.38 seconds and 12th on the blue course with a time of 36.13 seconds.

Hogan Haas had a consistent day, finishing in 19th place on both runs, but his two high finishes allowed him to finish in 14th place overall, capping off the Wildcats’ varsity scoring  -- skiing takes the team’s top four finishers -- at 383 points.

With their top four guys going about as fast as they have all year, no team in the section could hold a candle to the Wildcats. Duluth East came in second place with a total of 353.5 points, 30 back of the dominating Wildcats.

Tanner Rivard and Hunter Haas also skied well for the Wildcats. Rivard finished in 22nd place overall with a combined time of 1:18.56 and Hunter Haas finished in 1:21.96 to finish in 42nd place.

The boys will traveled back up to Giants Ridge this week to participate in the state tournament. If each of their guys gets through their runs without any hiccups, they have a real shot at a state championship with their talent and depth and maybe just a little luck on their side.

Girls

Although the Wildcats’ girls team wasn’t expected to compete for the top spot in the team standings like the boys were, they had senior Katie Rayer, who had swept the Northwest Suburban Conference schedule with win, expecting to make waves.

Instead, complete disaster struck when Rayer stumbled on her second run and finished the course in 58.85 seconds in 81st place.

This came after she had finished the red course in 42.23 seconds in eighth place overall. In alpine skiing, the top 10 skiers in the section make it to the state tournament.

It was an unfortunate end to the season for Rayer, who had skied out of her mind for the last three months, and now one little hiccup abruptly ended her dream season and her high school skiing career.

Ellie Frischmon was actually the top finisher for the Wildcats, coming in 38th place with a combined time of 1:34.44. Rayer finished in 50th place overall with a total time of 1:41.88, Lauren Peltier finished in 54th place with a time of 1:43.52 and Claire Eikens came in 56th place with a time of 1:43.55.

As a team, the girls finished in 11th place with 206 team points.

Section 7 Championships

The Chisago Lakes boys alpine ski team has been on a tear all year. 

They’ve fought stiff competition, uncooperative weather and some inopportune falls.

But for every small misstep backwards, they’ve taken a huge leap forward, and it all came to fruition when they won Section 7 last week and earned a team berth in the state tournament at Giants Ridge in Biwabik.

Right when they needed their top skiers the most, everyone came through with a near flawless run.

Senior Joe Cartier finished second overall at the meet with a combined time of 1:11.70. His 37.34 on the red course was the second fastest on the day and his 34.36 on the blue course was the third fastest for the day.

Jake Sandgren skied his typical strong race, finishing in fourth place overall with a time of 1:13.94. He finished in fourth place on the red course with a time of 38.59 seconds and sixth place on the blue course with a time of 35.35 seconds.

Seventh grader Anders Brown, who is only 12 years old, finished in ninth place overall after posting a time of 1:16.51. He finished in 17th on the red course with a time of 40.38 seconds and 12th on the blue course with a time of 36.13 seconds.

Hogan Haas had a consistent day, finishing in 19th place on both runs, but his two high finishes allowed him to finish in 14th place overall, capping off the Wildcats’ varsity scoring  -- skiing takes the team’s top four finishers -- at 383 points.

With their top four guys going about as fast as they have all year, no team in the section could hold a candle to the Wildcats. Duluth East came in second place with a total of 353.5 points, 30 back of the dominating Wildcats.

Tanner Rivard and Hunter Haas also skied well for the Wildcats. Rivard finished in 22nd place overall with a combined time of 1:18.56 and Hunter Haas finished in 1:21.96 to finish in 42nd place.

The boys will traveled back up to Giants Ridge this week to participate in the state tournament. If each of their guys gets through their runs without any hiccups, they have a real shot at a state championship with their talent and depth and maybe just a little luck on their side.

Girls

Although the Wildcats’ girls team wasn’t expected to compete for the top spot in the team standings like the boys were, they had senior Katie Rayer, who had swept the Northwest Suburban Conference schedule with win, expecting to make waves.

Instead, complete disaster struck when Rayer stumbled on her second run and finished the course in 58.85 seconds in 81st place.

This came after she had finished the red course in 42.23 seconds in eighth place overall. In alpine skiing, the top 10 skiers in the section make it to the state tournament.

It was an unfortunate end to the season for Rayer, who had skied out of her mind for the last three months, and now one little hiccup abruptly ended her dream season and her high school skiing career.

Ellie Frischmon was actually the top finisher for the Wildcats, coming in 38th place with a combined time of 1:34.44. Rayer finished in 50th place overall with a total time of 1:41.88, Lauren Peltier finished in 54th place with a time of 1:43.52 and Claire Eikens came in 56th place with a time of 1:43.55.

As a team, the girls finished in 11th place with 206 team points.

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