2006 Mesabi East Invitational Recap

The Mesabi East Invitational at Giants Ridge is a highlight in every high school skier's race schedule. If you have never witnessed this event, mark your calendars for next year! This is the only opportunity for all of the powerhouse teams in the state to face off. 1200 skiers raced in this year's event, representing 75 teams. Saturday's racing lasted from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm, with skiers starting in pairs, every thirty seconds.

For the third year in a row, I attended "Mesabi" as part of the coaching staff of the Wayzata High School Nordic Ski Team. I was greeted on Saturday morning with light drizzle, which meant klister for the classic skiers. We were fortunate to have 4 coaches at the meet, so waxing went smoothly. However, after klistering 10 pairs of skis my hands were so sticky that I wore gloves when putting "fairy dust" on the skaters' skis. Waxing kept me off the race course for most of the morning races, but I heard the competition was fierce.

Boys' varsity classic skiers were the first racers on the course. With the drizzle, the snow had transformed substantial, and almost resembled man-made snow, even in the woods. The classic course followed the standard Gold-Cedar-Gold 5 kilometer race course. The top three finishers in this race were all seniors in high school. Wynn Roberts of Battle Lake High School posted the fastest boy's time, covering the course in 15:21, an excellent time for this course. Right at his heels was Jared Cregg of Eden Prairie finishing in 15:28. Ross Werner of Armstrong rounded out the top three with a time of 15:49.

The girls' varsity classic skiers raced the same course, starting shortly after 11:00. I was able to catch the end of this race. From my vantage point at the top of the Cedar trail, just before the long descent to the stadium, I saw some great ski racing. The stronger skiers were able to stride up this steep hill, despite a washed out track near the top. As with the boys' race, the top three positions were filled by seniors. Claire Luby of St. Paul Central topped the list with a time of 18:17. Elizabeth Yetzer of Lakeville North and Anna Rosseler of Grand Rapids were right at Claire's heels, finishing with time of 18:22 and 18:26, respectively. Interestingly, Claire and Elizabeth started their races at the same time, 11:39:00 am. I wish I could have been on the course earlier to see these two battle the race out.

After a delicious lunch, provided by the Wayzata ski team parents, I was recharged to head towards the Silver trail and watch the skate race. This 5 kilometer race course offers very little rest for the skiers. The rolling terrain requires constant transitioning to maintain speed. The "triple threat," at just over 1 kilometer into the race, is a crucial climb on this course. Hitting the hill too hard may have disastrous consequences later in the race. The boys' varsity skaters left the start line beginning at 1:00 pm. I positioned myself at about 3.5 kilometers, at the top of one of the big climbs in the course. The excitement at this hill was unbelievable. Skiers who raced earlier in the day were out cheering for their teammates; coaches were taking splits on the top skiers. As a skier began the climb, a roar erupted down the hill from me with shouts of encouragement.

The podium positions in this race were not dominated by seniors, unlike the classic races. The boys had a very close race for the top three spots. A mere 6 seconds separated first from third. Justin Tyner of Brainerd took the top position with a time of 14:27. Kyle Frederickson of Hayward placed second with a time of 14:31. Collin Cousins of Southwest rounded out the top three, finishing in 14:32. The girls' freestyle race was also a very close race, with the top five skiers finishing with in 9 seconds of each other. Jessie Diggins of Stillwater, an eight grader, took top honors with a time of 17:23. We should see some great results from her in the coming years. Beth Tacl of St. Cloud Cathedral was 2 seconds behind Jessie, capturing second place. Lynn Duijndam of Roseville took third with a time of 17:31.

Junior varsity skiers competed in this event in all disciplines. Interestingly, Ingrid Fjeldheim of Duluth East, won the JV girls' freestyle race and would have place third in the girls' varsity race, had she competed in that class.

This race weekend is an exciting and fun weekend as a coach, but it sure wore me out! Many of the racers forget that, even though their day may be long and stressful, a coach's race day often starts before the racers even wake up and lasts until the very last skier is off the course! With a little over a month left in the high school season, it will be interesting to see how the skiers compete until the state meet on February 17.

As a side note, this weekend's races were without the defending 2005 state champions, Katie Bono of Visitation and Ben Fick of Forest Lake, who are racing at US Nationals at Soldiers Hollow.