Wisconsin State High School Championship Recap

Anyone looking for historic, epic, barn burning excitement in Wisconsin High School Nordic skiing didn't have to travel far as the Rhinelander edition for 2013 fulfilled every expectation, if not all predictions.

Saturday's 7 kilometer classic race started at 10:00 am, with the boys leading out. The top seeds from last year's results dashed out individually every 15 seconds, then followed by the seeding of teams based on coaches placement. Ashwaubenon's Kyler Berg was first in with a time of 20:34, followed by Chaz Perry from Peak Nordic 37 seconds back, Ian Liphart/Washburn 4-H Canski Team, Dan Delestry of Chippewa Valley in fourth, and Lakeland freshman Mack FitzPatrick in fifth. Other Lakeland varsity boys were Will Bodewes, in 16th, closely followed by teammate Michael Orlowski 17th and barely-illness -recovering-as-we-ski senior, Lucas Paulson.

At the end of the first day, the boys team scores showed Ashwaubenon leading handily with 20 points and then a mash up with Hayward with 37 points, Lakeland in third with 38 points, chased by Madison tied with Peak Nordic at 40 points and 4-H Canski not too far off the mark in sixth place with 48 points.

The girls race at ten followed the same start procedure as the boys with results. Defending champion, Nicole Bathe, Verona came in with a commanding 47 second lead over a hard charging Delaney FitzPatrick. Olivia Amber, Northwestern, rounded out the podium, 1:10 behind Bathe's pace.

Other Lakeland varsity girl's finishes included Junior Erin Bolger in eight at 25:36, freshman Sophie Annis 11th in 26:10, with sophomores Lily Johnson and Sophia Weiss rounding out the top five at 23rd and 29th.

Carli Capacio was in at 39th for the day followed by Emily Kubisiak 40th, Bailey Nichols 53rd, Katelyn Nimsgern 56th, Paige Courtney 72nd, Kaitee Dumask 96th, Melissa Angove 97th, and Hailey Teichmiller 101.

Teams scores had Lakeland with an advantage with 16 points, Hayward second with 27 points, and Peak Nordic in third with 30 points.

Sunday was the skate pursuit, in warmer temperatures approaching 25 Fahrenheit for the 9:00 boys' start. Each skier left in the order of finish from the classic race the day before. Individual and team hopes were riding high as each skier attempts to pass others to improve overall standings for the two days. Buried inside the visual look at pursuit bibs overtaking each other is a skate race that only the computer knows after the last finisher is in.

The boys started the day and Kyler Berg was unshakeable and unapproachable, at least on skis. Leading from wire to wire he kept the pressure on himself and finished first with a comfortable 39 second lead over the field. Behind him, chaos was ensuing. With the top 15 boys (minus Kyler) grouped within one minute, that's a lot of adrenaline drenched bodies crammed into a narrow trail with flailing skis and poles looking for gaps and space.

After the dust settled, Evan Patz, Madison, came roaring in, followed closely by teammate, Gabe Forest, with Lakeland's own Mack FitzPatrick skiing big for fourth. A fired up Will Bodewes pushed up into 11th place (despite three falls), while senior Lucas Paulson kicked out the last of a lingering respiratory illness to move up seven places from the previous days results to finish 13th. Michael Orlowski had undoubtedly the best skate race of his career to come in 19th, and freshman Ryan Bresnahan stepped it up big time to finish 53.

Aaron Kubisiak held onto 60th, as Tommy Boisvert moved up two places into 84th, and Keegan Mullen finished 96th out of the field of 120 competitors.

At 10:00, with continued warming temperatures, the girls were placed in the starting grid and Nicole Bathe faded into the distance with her 47 second lead, followed by Delaney FitzPatrick, and the rest of the field.

As the crowd anxiously waited for the skiers return to the long look finish that ran a ridge line, zig zagged down a slope, with a quick up (easy for me to say) onto the short flat sprint finish line, nerves were on edge. Parents and coaches chatted while glancing between watches and the anticipated finish times. A skier was at last sighted coming into view and a stunned silence took over temporarily while eyes discerned the Lakeland uniform, not the bright red CXC uniforms of the leader Nicole Bathe or the similarly fashioned Olivia Amber; Delaney FitzPatrick had the lead with ½ k to go.

After the whooping ended, eyes again scanned the race course horizon searching for second place and 10 seconds later Olivia Amber emerged, with Nicole Bathe 49 seconds back of the lead that FitzPatrick had established and held until the finish.

A post race conversation with Delaney revealed that Bathe had “terrible” skis and was laboring as early as one kilometer, the area that FitzPatrick first sighted her competitor. Thinking she may have gone out too hard and would pay the price later, FitzPatrick dialed back the pace a bit, but kept sighting her rival through the trees. Finally at five kilometers she glided past her on a down to up transition and didn't look back until the final k marker where she saw Amber passing Bathe. After that, hammer down to the finish was all she wrote.

Back slightly from the stunning result at the front of the pack, Erin Bolger was working some skate magic, moving from 8th in the classic to 6th in the pursuit with a time placing her 3rd in the skate race behind the first of Olivia Amber's time, and second to teammate Delaney FitzPatrick. Freshman Sophie Annis held 11th place to complete the Lakeland scoring, while Sophia Weiss moved up six places to 24th overall, and Lily Johnson hung tough for 32nd.

Emily Kubisiak came in 39th,Bailey Nichols improved from last year to 62nd, first year skier Michelle Johnson 64th, Paige Courtney 72nd, with Katelyn Nimsgern right behind her in 73rd. Freshmen Missy Angove got the lucky 99th place with Hailey Teichmiller enjoying her 103rd outing with a field of 112.

Girls team points showed Lakeland improving their first place lead by two points over their classic effort with 14, Hayward coming in second with 23, and Peak Nordic retaining third with 35 points.

The teams refresh, renew, and prepare for a completely different ski racing experience at they travel to Madison to sprint as teams and individuals around the Capital Square on man made snow next weekend.