Even though there hasn’t been much snow this year, the Hayward Nordic Ski Team has had a busy last couple of weeks. The first weekend in February, many students chose to spend the weekend skiing at one of two events: the Mt. Ashwabay Summit Ski Race or the State Sprint Championships at the Ariens Nordic Center (in Brillion, WI). Students skiing the high school race at Mt. Ashwabay were Norah Werner, Marin Patnode, Karl Nelson, and Ryan Nechuta. Instead of doing the high school race, freshman Cecelia Toshner opted to ski the 15 kilometer classic race while senior Bradyn Keller skied the 30 kilometer skate race!
Students skiing at the two-day State Sprint Championships The first day was a classical-style team sprint relay, where teams of two each ski two laps of the 1.2 kilometer course with a tag off in the middle. Competing teams were Neel Dums and Hael Dums (placed 3rd), Justin Olney and Sullivan Sportel, Noah Hill and Arlo Morse, and Evelyn Morse and Sam Roach. The second day was an individual skate sprint, where every skier races the 1.2 kilometer course, and the top 32 times qualify for heats. In the heats 8 athletes match up and race head-to-head, where the goal is to work your way to the final heats. In the boys final, Neel Dums placed 6th overall and Arlo Morse placed 18th. In the girls final, Evelyn Morse placed 32nd. Overall it was a very successful and fun weekend!
The season finale took place February 8-9 at the start of the American Birkebeiner trailhead in Cable. The Wisconsin State Distance Championships are always a fun time, as it feels like a home meet being that close to Hayward. The pursuit format is super fun to watch too! The winner of Saturday’s 6.2 kilometer skate race (two laps of a 3.1 kilometer course) leaves the start gate first for Sunday’s Classic race (over the same challenging course as the skate race). The second starter then leaves with the time gap they had from the skate race, so the first to cross the line is the overall winner!
Neel Dums, (a 12th grader at HACIL) after getting second in Saturday’s skate race, started Sunday’s classic race needing to make up a 9 second gap. After a fierce battle, Neel was able to chase down Saturday’s winner and come in with a 6 second margin of victory to claim the State Champion pursuit title! One had to look all the way back to 2008 when Matt Pierce claimed the same title for Hayward! Karl Nelson, a 10th graders at HACIL, placed 25th overall. The rest of the boys team also had a great day: Hael Dums, Sully Sportel, Noah Hill, Justin Olney, Arlo Morse, Ryan Nechuta, Sam Roach, and Bradyn Keller.
In the girls race, 9th grader Cecelia Toshner placed 22nd on the overall distance podium while fellow 9th grader Marin Patnode placed 30th! Evelyn Morse (10th grade) and Norah Werner (9th grade) also represented Hayward well over the weekend. This young girls team has a bright future ahead of them!
So congratulations to the HHS Nordic Ski Team on another great season! If you made it to a race this year- good! If not, come cheer on your Hayward student skiers as they ski American Birkebeiner events later this month! With the finish line on Main Street again this year, it’s sure to be a great time!
