Skinnyski.com High School Rankings - Week 7

January 21, 2013

Commentary: Before getting into who is on the list this week, we need to cover another scenario of whom is not...   At the Tour de Twin Cities JNQ races this weekend, many a conversation was started with "Who the heck is Ian Torchia?!"  For a lot of high school skiers (and parents), the sight of Ian Torchia's name at the head of the boys J1 freestyle field was a major shock.  However, if you've been following the racing scene over the years, the Torchia name shouldn't be a big surprise.  Ian Torchia is the younger brother of Mike Torchia.   Mike Torchia won the Minnesota high school cross-country meet and set the indoor 5K record at the University of Minnesota.   Ian finished 6th at the state cross-country meet last November.  Ian also jumped into the JNQ competition last season, but wasn't able to compete in enough events to qualify for Nationals.  However, Torchia went on to race at the inaugural J2 Championships where he finished 2nd in the boys skate race.  So the reason Torchia isn't ranked?  Torchia is part of the Rochester Nordic Ski Team club, an organization that races just freestyle format events and is not part of the official Minnesota High School League program. 

With the JNQ races coming up last week, a number of skiers sat out their conference meets to rest up and prepare.  So most of the weighting this week comes from the JNQ events.  The results continue to show there is no dominant skier - just a lot of parity.  This is resulting in races where roughly 10 skiers all have an equal chance of winning.  So what we end up looking for is consistency (the skiers that are regularly finishing near the top), and then adding in some of the skiers that appear to be "trending". 

Harris Dirnberger remains at the top of list for his consistency.  He was in the top 5-6 junior skaters on Saturday, and the top high school skier in Sunday's mass start classical race.  Nipping at his heels, Tom Bye continues to get stronger and moves to the number two slot.  We slingshot Scott Harrison up to third with some strong weekend numbers and continual improvement (both Bye and Harrison started at the very back of the mass start field on Sunday and yet finished 7th and 9th respectively).  Lucas Mason had a dominating skate race, showing signs that his form is returning, but didn't compete in the classical event -- he pops back into the list at number five.  Zak Ketterson and Nick Acton are probably underranked, but hopefully that becomes move evident by next week.  (Apologies this week to Jon Delaney, new addition to the cusp list, and clearly deserving -- hopefully the coaches can get his results in more regularly).

For the girls, it seems like there is a new horse at the front of the field each race.  Alayna Sonnesyn finally hit on all cylinders Saturday, but seemed to stall out again on Sunday.  Kris Bourne displayed one of the smartest races we've seen in a long time with second place finish Sunday.  Meanwhile Niki Reker has been silenting moving up the ranks with very consistent and solid results, bagging two top five high school places in the weekend events.  Reker makes it a tough call for that top position, but we lean towards Mattie Watts who posted the second fastest high school time Saturday, and was in the lead pack until a fall in the final K of the classical race.  We're still watching for a classical result from Anna Kubek...

No changes in the team rankings, though we believe the Roseville girls could move to second, possibly first, if they can bring a healthy full squad to State (Roseville's Caroline Brisbois nearly blew apart the field Sunday before DNFing on the final lap).

Girls Teams

  1. Duluth East
  2. Wayzata
  3. Roseville
  4. Eden Prairie
  5. Stillwater

On the cusp: Burnsville, Irondale, Mpls Southwest, Andover, Little Falls, Hopkins, Ely, Osseo

Boys Teams

  1. Eden Prairie
  2. Irondale
  3. St. Cloud Tech
  4. Elk River
  5. Ely

On the cusp: Eagan, Forest Lake, Roseville, Duluth East, Hopkins, Stillwater

Girls Individuals

  1. Mattie Watts, Irondale
  2. Anna Kubek, Duluth East
  3. Niki Reker, Roseville
  4. Alayna Sonnesyn, Wayzata
  5. Kris Bourne, MPA
  6. Amy Bianco, Ely
  7. Rocci Wolhk, Forest Lake
  8. Vivian Hett, Burnsville
  9. Allison Ternes, White Bear Lake
  10. Anna French, Wayzata

On the cusp: Kaley Shagen, Osseo; Eryn Stewart, Eden Prairie; Nicole Schneider, Wayzata; Sophie Schuder, Duluth East; Maddie McKeefry, Andover; Sarah Benton, Hopkins; Sonja Hedblom, Eagan; Solveig Viren, Grand Rapids

Boys Individuals

  1. Harris Dirnberger, Hopkins
  2. Tom Bye, Eden Prairie
  3. Scott Harrison, Mound-Westonka
  4. Luke Brown, Minnehaha Academy
  5. Lucas Mason, Roseville
  6. Jakob Ellingson, Hopkins
  7. Tyler Gilbert, Irondale
  8. Zak Ketterson, Bloomington Jefferson
  9. Nick Acton, Eagan
  10. Steve Hokanson, Mounds View

On the cusp: Sean Cork, St. Louis Park; Jon Delaney, Armstrong; Sean Bjork, Stillwater; Andrew Egger, Benilde-St.Margaret; Jay Grootwassink, Eden Prairie; Jake Ajax, SLP/St.Anthony; Nick Proell, St. Cloud Tech; Henry Zurn, Eden Prairie; Jesse Olson, Ely; Jake Jankowski, Forest Lake