Posted: 3/2/05
Nordic ski team looks back on a successful season
|
|
 |
Joe Drennan
Sports Editor
Over the course of the winter sports season the Forest Lake High School nordic ski team let head coach Deno Johnson do all the talking, but now that the team's most successful season to date is just about over the skiers chose to do the talking.
Both the boys and girls teams won the Suburban East Conference titles, were section 2 champions and the girls had their best finish, third, at the state meet and the boys were crowned state champions.
ìFor the girls team, we accomplished all our goals,î girls team captain and third place finisher at state Sarah Wright said. ìFor a bunch of seniors itís a good way to go out.î
The boys were excited about their state championship victory, but it hasnít set in yet.
ìI think I was more excited about third place last year,î Zac Clark said.
Jimmy Babbitt added, ìLast year was unexpected, but this year we knew we could take first so it wasnít as big of a shock to us.î
As the skiers look back on the season, each skier had something different that stuck out in their mind that helped them succeed during the season.
The USSA weekends and junior Olympic qualifiers were races that all the skiers who competed in them saw as good competition to prepare them for the conference season.
ìNot only did we get to race different people, but we were racing different terrain,î Duff said.
ìWe were skiing against the top skiers in the Midwest,î Babbitt added.
The skiers put in some extra training time on their own as well.
ìWe were working hard and working overtime, coming in on Saturdays and Sundays,î Clark said.
Seniors
Babbitt was the only senior on the boys team, but the girls team had Wright, Nikki Duff, Becky Alexander, Jenny Coozennoy and Katie Clark as team veteran leaders. While Wright has one more race left, the rest of the senior class skied their last high school race at the state meet.
ìI enjoyed my teammates even though I was the only senior,î Babbitt said. ìI felt a bond with them even though they were younger than me. If I wasnít in this sport I would have never met them.î
While Wright plans to continue skiing competitively beyond high school, Alexander is heading to the University of Wisconsin - River Falls to major in biology as she wants to get into veterinarian medicine.
Season not over
Ben Fick, Ted Steiner, Clark and Wright still have some skiing left in them this season. The four will be headed to the USSA Junior National Championships in early March in Soda Springs, CA.
ìMy goal is to be satisfied with how I race,î Steiner said. ìI donít know how skiers are in the rest of the country so it is hard to set a goal.î
Wright knows what the competition is like and plans to finish in the top seven percent of the champion to earn USSA All-American honors.
Individual state champion Fick is on a 12 race winning streak and would like to make that 13 at the USSA Junior National Championships, but understands heíll be against some stiff competition.
ìThere is some tough competition out there and obviously those guys weíll be skiing against have been training a little different,î Fick said. ìIíll put my best into it and see what I can get out of it.î
Having four Rangers going to the USSA Junior National Championships, the skiers have set the goal to capture the Roger Weston trophy which recognizes the top skiing schools in the nation.
ìWeíre going to try and do well so we can display that our school has so many good skiers,î Fick said.
Next year
With all but one skier returning to the boys team next year, the boys are already looking towards defending their title.
ìI think the boys team has a lot of potential the next few years since I am the only senior,î Babbitt said. ìI think theyíll be more dominant next year. Weíre just hitting the pinnacle.î
ìWeíll be back and weíll be better,î Fick said.
With five seniors graduating from the girls team a lot of coaches might be scared, but not Johnson.
ìNext year is going to be very exciting,î Johnson said. ìItís going to be a challenge to see who steps up as we have a few graduating, but thatís how high school sports goes.î
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605