Minnesota State Meet Recap
February 14, 2016The 2016 Minnesota State Meet was yet another chapter of stability and surprises in the history of the event. For stability, you can’t beat another delayed start at the State Meet. It seems regardless of the winter, the coldest weather of the season targets the big event. This year the delay was only 30 minutes, and that was certainly offset by the other thing we count on: near mint trail conditions at the Ridge. The skate course was firm and fast, without any iciness and there were great classic tracks for the afternoon pursuit. And something we take for granted, the organizers and volunteers pulled off an event that ran smoothly and efficiently once again.
As expected, Zak Ketterson, Bloomington Jefferson, put on a grand performance for his final high school race. After taking a 40 second advantage in the morning skate, Ketterson went into the history books with his afternoon performance as he kept his skate skis on and grabbed a pair of classic poles, being the first to double pole the classic pursuit race -- and extending his lead (and legend) in the process. In a cheeky but well earned move, Ketterson took an actual bow just before gliding across the finish line.
It was a pair of underclassmen that provided the biggest surprises on the day. Erin Moening, St. Paul Highland Park, recovered from a disappointing section loss, reclaiming her position as one of the top junior prospects by hammering out an impressive pair of second best performances in both skate and classic and coming up just 15 seconds short of catching Freed. Patrick Acton, Eagan, showed his skating prowess to take the number two position after the morning race, then managed to out double pole Xavier Mansfield to hold onto that placing.
Some other notable results:
Anja Maijala, C-E-C, did the northern powers proud, earning the 3rd spot on the podium with a solid classic performance. Joining Maijala in the top 10, Mesabi East star Anna Johnson strided up to finish 7th while Maijala’s teammate Erika Fox had a stellar performance to take 8th. Ingrid Thyr, Breck, showed she was unranked most of the season, securing a 6th place finish.
For the boys, much of the top ten proved how tight the competition was all season. Jack Christianson, Mounds View, continued his great late season form to take 4th, Tom Woolhouse of Mora had a fantastic race to take 7th, and Ryan Steger, Eagan, saved his best race of the season to take 8th. Christianson’s own teammate, Mark Ousdigian earns the Rodney Dangerfield award for finishing 9th after not even being included in our rankings!
Movers
Every year we compute the biggest “movers” in the classic pursuit. The score is determined by subtracting their freestyle place from their finishing place. The biggest mover this year was Eric Patterson, Duluth East, who managed to pass an astonishing 35 skiers to move up from 101st place to finish 66th followed closely by Hans Viren, Grand Rapids, moving 34 from 113th place to finish 79th. Not far off from that, Seth Cattanach, Stillwater, moved up 32 places. Looking at the top 30, there were three big bumpers: Andrew Milan, Wayzata, moved up 24 places to score an 18th place in his senior year. Forest Lake’s Davis Long moved up 27, to finish 27th. And finally, there is Sam Olson, Proctor/Hermantown. Olson moved up 30 places to finish 29th, but there is a story behind that performance, as shared by Marshall coach Dave Johnson: “His results in the state meet were not what he expected due to suffering ill effects from a leaky propane tank that he was exposed to before his first race. Unable to breathe as normal Sam gutted it out to simply finish the skate race in 60th place. Advised by his brother to clear his lungs by spending time upside down between races, Sam started the second race in 60th place and moved up 31 spots [adjusted to 30] to finish 29th with a top 15 classic leg time.“
The girls field had their own moving stars. Kate Schaaf, Forest Lake, climbed a remarkable 39th places in the classic race to finish 73rd. In the top 30, there were three gals who all moved 10 places up: Dottie Anderson, Robbinsdale-Armstrong to 12th, Erin Bianco, Ely, to 17th, and Triana Willmert, Edina, to 30th.
Team Scoring
In our extended results, we calculated a number of additional team scores. In the battle of best classic and best skate teams, the awards didn’t stray far from the standard results. Champion Minneapolis Southwest boys took the skate titlel, with second place Stillwater taking the classic crown as well as the full-team score (all seven skiers score). The winning Armstrong girls really were the dominate force, sweeping all the team categories - skate, classic and full-team. One number we crunched, but didn’t put in the extend results was how teams with four skiers that didn’t advance as top-two section team, would have fared had they been included in the scoring. This year, only the Hopkins girls brought four skiers forward, and their virtual scoring would have placed them 5th overall, sandwiched between Duluth East and Ely.
Prognostications
Reviewing our State Meet predictions, we were, as correctly stated wrong -- but not by much. We had Ketterson, Xavier Mansfield and Anders Sonnesyn as the top three, with Patrick Acton mentioned as one of the candidates for breaking onto the podium. For the girls, we chose Freed, Hannah Rudd, and Michaela Keller-Miller, with Erin Moening mentioned as the first name, and Anja Maijala the second, in our list of contenders to break into that pack.
For teams, the boys field gave us fits as we expected. While Minneapolis Southwest was mentioned as one of the best positioned teams to upset our favored Wayzata, we still didn’t put them in our top three. Only Stillwater helped save some face for us, taking second (we had them third).
With the girls teams we scored a trifecta, as Armstrong, Wayzata and Stillwater delivered, although an always tough Duluth East squad came up just two points short of breaking that combination.
As for the former champion predictions:
- Leo Hipp correctly had Ketterson to win, but with Mansfield second. He nearly scored a sweep in the boys teams as he listed Minneapolis Southwest and Stillwater second and third (admitting his bias to Forest Lake to win).
- Sarah Bezdicek had similar predictions to our own (we did not peek!), as she correctly guessed Freed in first, and had Moening in her list of contenders, along with Maijala. She was perfect on the top girls teams, Armstrong, Wayzata and Stillwater.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard not to start thinking about next season already! Erin Moening and Patrick Acton will undoubtedly start the season as the top ranked skiers, but their road will be full of tough competition with possibly a record number of returning skiers in the top 15. Armstrong, Stillwater, Burnsville and Ely all have young girls teams that will largely be back next year. And expect much the same with the boys, as Minneapolis Southwest only loses one skier, and be sure Stillwater, Wayzata and Forest Lake will bring back even better squads next season. One thing in common with the top 10 individual finishers, both boys and girls, is they all have competed in the Junior National Qualifier series. We’d strongly encourage skiers with aspirations of a top placement at State to take in these races next year. They provide the best opportunity to gauge yourself against the competition, and encourages you to push yourself beyond the competition in your own pond. And of course, the old adage rings true -- skiers are made in the summer!