The Ranger alpine boys and girls teams finished the season with a solid showing at the Section 7 tournament, on Feb. 8 at Spirit Mountain in Duluth. Six skiers from each squad competed, and scores from the top four individuals were totaled in order to determine team standings.

Providing a hint of future success, the young boys team finished in a respectable fifth place out of 15 teams. Leading the way for the Rangers was junior captain Brett Stolberg, who ranked 17th of 92 skiers, with a combined time of 94.48.

He was followed by junior Kevin Gamelin, who ranked 19th with 95.54, and eighth-grader Tyler Brunjes, who came in 32nd with 105.91. Despite falling, sophomore Scott Brunjes completed the Ranger scoring in 37th place, with 110.94.

“The boys faced two tough courses at sections,” said head coach Kyle Oberg. “It’s rare to see so many good skiers miss gates or fall in a top competition, but even the No. 1 and 2 boys teams, Duluth East and Brainerd, couldn’t finish with everyone standing.”

In the girls contest, the inexperienced Forest Lake team placed 9th out of 15 teams. Sophomore Nicky Kumerow led the Rangers, finishing 25th of 88 skiers, with a combined time of 99.62. She was followed by junior captain Carly Bass, who placed 27th with 100.19. Also scoring for the Rangers were senior Jessie Johnson, in 47th place with 111.04, and eighth-grader Kara Gamelin in 51st place with 113.72.

“We don’t have much depth on the girls team,” Oberg said, “but our top three skiers will be back next year and we have some young girls who should improve with experience.”

The Rangers finished their regular conference season against Mounds View Jan. 30 at Wild Mountain. The boys won 29-26, led by medalist Scott Brunjes. Also in the Top five were Brett Stolberg and eight-grader Shane Sampair. The win gave the Forest Lake boys a 5-3 record for the season. If it weren’t for upset losses to Cretin-Derham Hall and Roseville, the boys would have been sharing the conference title with Stillwater.

The girls didn’t have the depth to match-up against Mounds View. They lost 13-42, with only two Rangers scoring: Carly Bass and Ciara Robinson.

The girls finished the season with a 3-5 conference standing.

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