Posted: 12/8/04
Nordic ski team looking for another successful season
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Joe Drennan
Sports Editor
After coaching both the girls and boys nordic ski teams to the state meet last season, Forest Lake High School nordic ski coach Deno Johnson couldnít wait for the 2004-2005 season to roll around. The boys finished third and the girls fourth at the state meet.
ìExcitement is probably an understatement for this season,î Johnson said. ìI usually come into the season excited, but this year the sky is the limit for both the boys and girls teams.î
Johnson has plenty to be excited about.
The boys team lost both Peter Bailey and Lorin Skoglund to graduation. On the girls side there was only one senior lost in Laura Edlund.
The girls team has captains Nicki Duff and Sarah Wright who will lead the charge to get the team back to the state meet. Freshman Anne Dehmlow and senior Beckey Alexander will be back as well as they look to improve upon impressive seasons they had last year. Katie Clark and Jenie Coozennoy both missed earning All-Conference honors last year so they'll be working even harder this year.
To add some depth to the team the Rangers were able to recruit several new skiers. Sophomore Kristie Jo Berkely, Aurlie McGeary and Shawna McNamara are all newcomers to the team.
ìFor the first time in my seven years coaching this team I actually have depth in the girls team so I expect the competition within the team to push them,î Johnson said.
For the boys, Ben Fick and Jim Babbit will lead the team as captains. Johnson is expecting big things out of Babbit and thinks he can finish in the top five of the Suburban East Conference. Expectations are even higher for Fick who is the returning conference champion. Fick spent more than 500 hours this summer training for the upcoming season and is one of the top skiers in the nation for his age bracket.
ìBen Fick is going to be our fastest skier,î Johnson said. ìHeís had a fabulous summer of training and we know heíll be the main one to beat.î
Also returning is Ted Steiner, Jamison Hull, Zach Clark and Joe Mitchel.
Steiner was a top conference skier last year and is atop his class academically as well. Hull will be competing for his second year and worked hard over the summer to improve his technique. Clark had a break out season last year and improved rapidly and Johnson expects more of the same this year out of him after a full summer of training.
Freshman Travis Strike is joining the team. Strike should add depth to the boys team.
ìTravis is pretty technically gifted and he has a lot of natural ability,î Johnson said. ìHeís really going to be a good skier in the future for us.î
Another new skier that has Johnson excited is Leif Nordgren. Nordgren is a sophomore that Johnson has watched ski since he was just a little kid.
ìLeif comes from a great ski family and I think heíll be able to contribute to our varsity team,î Johnson said.
Other new skiers to the boys team this year are Dave Kasl, Michael How and Roman Morris.
Competition
After taking third and fourth at the state meet, most teams will be gunning for the Rangers teams.
In the Suburban East Conference Johnson says Roseville will be the team to beat in both the boys and girls races. When the section comes up on their schedule Johnson expects much of the same as last year out of his team.
ìI think the section meet will be the same story this year,î Johnson said. ìThe girls will be setting the pace in the meet and the boys are really excited about the season in general that they're all chomping at the bit to get going. I think with the addition of the new girls to the team I sleep much better at night thinking about the section meet.î
There has been a change to the order of races. In the past the skate race was second behind the classical style race. The state coaches association decided to change that and have the classical race second this year.
ìI definitely think that will play to Forest Lakeís favor,î Johnson said. ìWhat I see happening in that second leg of the race is that since our kids ski so technically well, theyíll be able to hold up and make some big times.î
The core of the boys team has been working together for four years now and Johnson sees that as a positive because they know how their teammates react to different situations and theyíll be able to push each other throughout the season. Another thing that will help both the boys and girls team is the fact they were able to start training on snow Dec. 1 at Trollhaugen, earlier than any other high school team in the area.
The Rangers next meet is the Forest Lake dual meet Dec. 15 at Trollhaugen at 3:30 p.m.
Forest Lake Times
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880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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