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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
Early January in Nordic skiing doesn’t hold nearly the importance of mid-February’s state meet, but it’s still unusual to see the Forest Lake boys finish in something other than first place.
 At the Mesabi East Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 5, the Rangers would actually see both Minneapolis Southwest and Wayzata turn in lower team scores (the lower the better in Nordic), with head coach Deno Johnson’s crew taking third.
(Photo courtesy of skinnyski.com)
HEAD EAST: The Mesabi East Invitational brings in more than 1000 skiers, where Forest Lake’s Megan Gooley, far right, helped the girls Nordic team finish in 11th place.
Afterward, Johnson didn’t sound too concerned, as the Rangers were working with an ailing line-up. Travis Strike, for instance, didn’t even make the trip.
“Mesabi is a good chance for the kids to get on one of the state courses and get a feel for the terrain,” Johnson shared. “We have a lot of athletes under the weather, and as soon as we can get them recovered, we’ll be fine.”
A couple of skiers who did more than fine were Ben Brodin and Ryan Wright.
Brodin was the third fastest competitor in the 5K freestyle, while Wright raced to a fifth place finish in the classic event, just barely holding off Brandon Piechowski of Mounds View over the 5K course.
The Rangers’ Mitch Wohlk claimed 40th place out of 173 skiers.
GIRLS TAKE 11th
In the girls’ events, it was Annie Dehmlow who made the biggest impression for Forest Lake, by getting third in the 5K classic.
Teammates Amber Anderson and Jen Scott would finish further back, but both were still in the top third in what is an enormous field of participants.
Elizabeth Peterson led the Rangers in the 5K freestyle, ending the day in 43rd place. Megan Gooley would wind up in 82nd place and Kate Babbitt was 95th.
JUNIOR VARSITY
“The defending champ jayvee boys were a further testament to the depth of the boys team,” Johnson said about his first place junior varsity. “It’s going to be a fight to the finish and they’ll be ready.”
Forest Lake totalled an impossibly low 11 points, with Eden Prairie coming in second, with 39 points.
Mesabi East Invite
Boys Freestyle
3. Brodin 15:28.5
40. Shawn Wright 16:54.4
Boys Classic
5. Ryan Wright 16:29.2
40. Wohlk 18:15.8
Girls Freestyle
43. Peterson 20:09.2
82. Gooley 21:21.2
95. Babbitt 21:48.5
Girls Classic
3. Dehmlow 19:46.9
41. Anderson 21:36.6
63. Scott 22:23.2
Boys Junior Varsity
Freestyle
1. Steve Coozennoy 16:36.5
2. Joe Jackson 17:09.6
Classic
1. Roman Morris 18:22.3
8. Matt Maki 19:31.6
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