Skinnyski.com High School Rankings - Week 12

February 12, 2012

Commentary:

Finally... Sections!  And what a great week of racing it was!

But before we recap sections, we need to correct an injustice.  Nearly all Minnesota high school meets are scored for team results using the top four skiers.  However, it came to our attention last week that the Lake conference is different.   In that conference, they choose to score the top six skiers, casting a heavier emphasis on the depth of the team.  When one recalculates the Lake conference results using just the top four skiers, it becomes obvious that the Hopkins boys were the stronger four man squad.  While we applaud the talented and deep Eden Prairie boys team, we are using the four skier criteria for ranking, and thus reflect the "correct" ranking this week.  Our apologies for not recognizing the scoring issue sooner and giving Hopkins their due.

On to the section highlights:

  • Section 1:  Everything fell into place about as expected -- Ben Saxton ate up the course, Sonja Hedblom collected the girls title, and the Winona girls and Eagan boys advanced their teams.

  • Section 2:  Wow, this was the section races to see!  Marcus Speca recovered his earlier season form just in time to help Minnetonka keep the team title from a tough Eden Prairie squad.  Even more exciting, the Eden Prairie girls put Wayzata on the ropes in true Rocky fashion, taking the led into the pursuit skate race and ending with tie.  Wayzata's star Alayna Sonnesyn broke the tie with a dominating margin in girls race.  Zach Goldberg took the boys field.  Perhaps most impressive, Eden Prairie boys advance their entire team (all seven), and the EP girls advance six!

  • Section 3:  A series of disqualifications in the classical race (mainly skating on uphills), broke open what was expected to be a close battle between Minnehaha Academy and St. Paul Central, with Central taking the team title (no disrespect meant to Central).  Burnsville girls won the team title, led by a strong performance from Vivian Hett.

  • Section 4: Neighborhood rivals Forest Lake and Stillwater exchanged blows.  Rocci Wohlk won the girls title but Stillwater capture the team title with Nora Gilbertson posted one of her best skate races of the season.  Joe Jackson and teammate Alex Kelley guided the Forest Lake boys to victory over Stillwater.

  • Section 5:  Roseville swept the team titles, even with an off day by Lucas Mason in the boys races.  The deep Irondale boys squad appeared cursed in their attempt at an upset as one skier snapped off a binding plate in a minor fall and another skier broke a pole in mid-race (without any apparent force).  Roseville's Sam Elfstrom dualed teammate Kyle Marshall for the boys title, with Marshall taking the victory this round.  Nikki Reker pulled off the upset in the girls race.

  • Section 6:  Another set of exciting races to watch!  Claire Galvin took the sprint finish victory from Sarah Benton by a foot.  Ironically, Galvin spent much of January hobbled by a broken foot!  But it was Benton's Hopkins team that beat Galvin's Minneapolis Southwest in a tie-breaker to advance their team to State.  Harris Dirnberger had one of his best races of the season, coming from behind to upset favored Jan Ketterson for the boys victory, as well as leading his team to the title.

  • Section 7: Duluth East, after a close conference championship, showed some serious muscle on the State Meet courses at Giants Ridge to easily take the team titles.  Ryan Davis looked particular strong, crushing the boys field.  Top ranked Annie Harvieux posted a solid victory as well.

  • Section 8:  Brainerd and Bemidji boys battled it out with Brainerd coming out on top this time.  Little Falls girls continued their dynasty, earning another trip to the State Meet.  Jake Richards scooped up the victory on his home course (literally), and Maria Hauger won the girls title.

On to the rankings...

First off, you'll notice the rankings include teams that are no longer eligible for the State Meet titles.  These rankings were never intended to predict the State Meet results, but rather reflect the top teams and individuals on a level playing field.  (We also think its a travesty that non-section winning teams advancing four or more skiers to the State Meet aren't scored -- we plan to publish a full team scoring again after the State Meet.)

While the section results do play a big role in the rankings this week, we tried to temper some of the movement.  A number of teams and individuals simpled seemed to have off days for sections.

In the team rankings, we finally make some big moves as the Hopkins boys gets their rightful placement into the top five.  Duluth East comes in strong as well, could even have gone one step higher.  The Wayzata girls appear to still struggle a little with team chemistry, and slip one more position this week, as we bring up a peaking Stillwater team.

We're pulling for Sarah Benton to recover that stellar early season form, but in the final rankings she drops to 10th.  Nora Gilbertson, Nikki Reker and Kris Bourne all climb up with good section results.  Harris Dirnberger moves up slightly, maybe should be higher but the Elm Creek section victory was hard to judge as that course seems weaker than most venues.  Ryan Davis most likely should be higher, but its hard to determine who should fall due to a lack of recent head-to-head competition against the candidates.

So these are the final rankings for the season.   As it has been most of the year, we expect had the racing action continued, the rankings would continue to shuffle around as the competition is just that tight.  

We'll issue a State Meet Preview with our usual predictions, and you can be sure they won't fully mirror these rankings...

Boys Teams

  1. Roseville
  2. Hopkins
  3. Duluth East
  4. Minnetonka
  5. Forest Lake

On the cusp: Eden Prairie, Irondale, Stillwater, Minneapolis Southwest, Ely

Girls Teams

  1. Duluth East
  2. Stillwater
  3. Wayzata
  4. Roseville
  5. Forest Lake

On the cusp: Eden Prairie, Grand Rapids, Ely, Hopkins, Minneapolis Southwest

Boys Individuals

  1. Ben Saxton, Lakeville North
  2. Jan Ketterson, Bloomington
  3. Sam Elfstrom, Roseville
  4. Eric Slater, Henry Sibley
  5. Kyle Marshall, Roseville
  6. Jake Richards, Detroit Lakes
  7. Anders Evenson, Osseo
  8. Calvin Mehrhof, Coon Rapids
  9. Harris Dirnberger, Hopkins
  10. Ryan Davis, Duluth East

On the cusp:  Zach Goldberg, Minnetonka; Lucas Mason, Roseville; Matthew Berntson, Edina; Michael Cork, St. Louis Park; Lewis Kunik, Lakeville North; Luke Brown, Minnehaha Academy; Joe Jackson, Forest Lake; Jakob Ellingson, Hopkins.

Girls Individuals

  1. Annie Harvieux, Duluth East
  2. Alayna Sonnesyn, Wayzata
  3. Rocci Wohlk, Forest Lake
  4. Mattie Watts, Irondale
  5. Vivian Hett, Burnsville
  6. Sonja Hedblom, Eagan
  7. Nora Gilbertson, Stillwater
  8. Nikki Reker, Roseville
  9. Kris Bourne, MPA
  10. Sarah Benton, Hopkins

On the cusp:  Chelsey Youngberg, Duluth East; Amy Bianco, Ely; Claire Galvin, Minneapolis Southwest; Solveig Viren, Grand Rapids; Sophie Schuder, Duluth East; Hilary Hildahl, Eden Prairie; Marit Sonnesyn, Wayzata; Cassie Thobe, Forest Lake; Madeline McKeefry, Andover.

 

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