Skinnyski.com High School Rankings - Week 6

Commentary: 

One of the harder parts of the rankings is judging the skiing outstate.  Being based out of the Twin Cities, we just don't get many chances to see teams outside of the metro area.  And for one reason or another, many skiers outstate don't participate in the Junior National Qualifiers (and its not for a lack of talent).  The section 7 skiers in particular get overlooked and then "surprise" everyone (but those living in NE Minnesota), when they post great results at the State Meet.  The racing action up north has intensified in recent weeks as many of the top skiers are beginning to come into form.  Duluth East appears to have their top horses going now, posting strong conference results (and their usual depth).  Erin Bianco, Ely, also seems to be getting her game back just in time for some interesting racing come February.  The threat of a Duluth East "upset" in the boys team race is looming larger...

The JNQs at Wirth were almost like two completely different events -- like a race at Socchi on Saturday, and a race at Lillehammer on Sunday.  Saturday was a slugfest of classical racing in warm conditions, with a track that broke down as the day progressed.   Sunday was ball-bearing fast hard track skate racing.  One skier that seems to handle everything thrown at her, and keeps asking for more, is Erin Moening.  Moening nearly reeled in the blazing Siri Bohacek Saturday, finishing second in the U16 classic.  Sunday Moening went up against the entire womens field and not only topped the U16 group (and U18ers), but finish 7th overall!  Not impressive enough?  Consider Moening also raced in her conference championships on Friday - back to back 5K classical and skate races (and won by over three minutes)!  Michaela Keller-Miller continues her climb up the rankings as well, finishing an incredible third overall on Saturday and posting a solid result again on Sunday. Hannah Rudd sparked to life Sunday with a very strong skate performance, and while showing some struggles with classic, Sarah Bezdicek strong-armed the field in the skate race Sunday with an impressive 5th place overall!  The latter half of the girls rankings continues to be very much in flux.

Zak Ketterson seemed relatively unphased by the course conditions at Wirth, showing he's still the top dog.  The battle for number two remains tight, with Leo Hipp continuing to just hold off Tamer Mische-Richter - but just barely.   I'll take whatever Thomas Norman has been eating the past week... Norman posted impressive improvements against many of the top ten this weekend, after being much further back the weekend before at the Telemark JNQs.  Like the girls, the boys ranking from 5 on down remains a battle royale, and any number of skiers, including cusp entries, could be swapped in there.

Very little tweaking on the team rankings this week, with sparse data being our excuse.  Forest Lake and St. Louis Park boys posted some very close times at the JNQs, making it extremely difficult to separate these two teams -- its basically a virtual tie.   One team on the rise to State is the Eagan boys.  Ryan Steger has come rocketing up the results, joining the young phenom Patrick Acton, and combined with teammates Ryan Conroy and Chris Acton, appear to be peaking in time for Sections.

For the Vegas bookies...  Coaches confirm Zak Ketterson will not be returning for the State Meet, but instead continuing his World Junior Championships trip with some additional racing in Europe.  Nicole Schneider and Abigail Drach, will return from their U18 Nations trip to Sweden just days before the State Meet, and assuming both their teams qualify for the big show, should be able to compete for the state title.

Conference championships this week, and then Sections (almost entirely on snowmaking?) the next week ...

Individuals

Boys

1. Zak Ketterson, Bloomington Jefferson, 11
2. Leo Hipp, Forest Lake, 12
3. Tamer Mische-Richter, Bloomington Kennedy, 12
4. Sean Cork, St. Louis Park, 12
5. Liam Schmelzle, St. Louis Park, 12
6. Cory Rouw, St. Cloud Tech, 12
7. Seth Prigge, Ely, 11
8. Patrick Acton, Eagan, 10
9. Anders Sonnesyn, Wayzata, 9
10. Reed Melicher, Mesabi East, 12

Cusp: Thomas Norman, Armstrong; Quinn Duffy, Forest Lake; Keaton Long, Duluth East; Xavier Mansfield, Mpls Patrick-Henry; Noah Poling, Winona; Tyler Kobilarcsik, Chanhassen;Tommy Babcock, Forest Lake; Henry Jarvinen, Edina; Davis Long, Forest Lake; Isaac Wieber, St. Cloud Tech; Noah Baker, Brainerd; Sam Hanson, Stillwater; Shad Kraftson, Stillwater; Vasek Cervenka, Grand Rapids; Nate Blichfeldt, Burnsville; Will Christensen, Eden Prairie;

Girls

1. Nicole Schneider, Wayzata, 12
2. Anna French, Wayzata, 12
3. Erin Moening, St. Paul Highland Park, 10
4. Michaela Keller-Miller, Wayzata, 11
5. Rocci Wohlk, Forest Lake, 12
6. Amanda Kautzer, Benilde-St.Margaret’s, 11
7. Sarah Bezdicek, Osseo, 12
8. Margie Freed, Eastview, 11
9. Siri Bohacek, Stillwater, 9
10. Hannah Rudd, Robbinsdale-Armstrong, 11

Cusp: Anna Johnson, Mesabi East; Kelly Koch, Burnsville; Abigail Drach, Eden Prairie; Hanna Torvi, Roseville; Renae Anderson, Hopkins; Dottie Anderson, Robbinsdale-Armstrong; Kristine Keller-Miller, Wayzata; Micayla, Batchlor, Eden Prairie; Ingrid Thyr, Breck; Emma Greenlee, Mesabi East; Claire Benton, Hopkins; Rana Kraftson, Stillwater; Megan Weaver, Stillwater; Cela Peterson, Stillwater; Hannah Bettendorf, Proctor/Hermantown; Naomi Boehm, Roseville

Teams

Boys

1. St. Louis Park
2. Forest Lake
3. Duluth East
4. Stillwater
5. Andover
6. Eden Prairie
7. Minneapolis Southwest
8. Wayzata
9. Brainerd
10. St. Cloud Tech

Cusp: Eagan, Irondale, Winona, Robbinsdale-Armstrong, Mesabi East, Minnehaha Academy, Mora

Girls

1. Wayzata
2. Robbinsdale-Armstrong
3. Stillwater
4. Eastview
5. Eden Prairie
6. Hopkins
7. Burnsville
8. Roseville
9. Duluth East
10. Ely

Cusp: Grand Rapids, Mesabi East, Forest Lake, Andover, St. Cloud Cath/Sartell, Mora, Irondale

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