Rosemount boys Alpine team earns state berth via tiebreaker
Close calls were the order of the day at the Section 6 Alpine skiing meet, where the Rosemount boys team earned a state meet berth via tiebreaker.
Rosemount and Lakeville North each finished with 309 points at the section meet Tuesday at Buck Hill. They were four points behind champion Mankato West. The section’s second-place team also advances to state, necessitating a tiebreaker between the Irish and Panthers. Rosemount won the tiebreaker because its No. 5 skier finished three places higher than Lakeville North’s fifth skier (a team’s top four skiers count toward the team score).
That gave the Irish a ticket to the state meet Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. Prior Lake/Farmington and Edina were the top two teams in the Section 6 girls meet and will advance to state. Edina was just 3.5 points ahead of third-place Lakeville South.
Wes Ebaugh was the Rosemount boys’ top individual finisher, placing third with a two-run time of 47.41 seconds. Bennett Simmering (15th, 48.57), Spencer Carlson (26th, 51.16) and Andrew Colucci (51st, 56.27) completed the Irish’s top four. Andrew Wrobleski, whose finish counted for the tiebreaker, was 70th in 60.15.
Top skier for Lakeville North was Lou Brucciani, who was fourth in 47.43. Ed Brookhart (22nd, 49,62), Andrew DelaCruz (29th, 52.65 and Greg Golden (40th, 53.93) also counted toward North’s team score. Eli Grundell finished 73rd.
The top 10 individuals who aren’t members of a qualifying team also advance to state. That group includes Brucciani of Lakeville North, Blake Stout of Prior Lake/Farmington (fifth, 47.44) and Jack Olson of Lakeville South (seventh, 47.61). Riley Smith of Eastview (13th, 48.43) and Lakeville South eighth-grader Cole Peltz (14th) narrowly missed qualifying for state individually.
Leo Demars of Mankato West was Section 6 boys medalist in 45.3.
Prior Lake/Farmington scored 374 points to win the Section 6 girls team competition. The team was 29 points ahead of second-place Edina, which also advances to state. Lakeville South was third with 341.5, just 3.5 behind Edina.
Three Prior Lake/Farmington skiers finished in the top 10: Annabel McCann (third, 48.82), Kovyn Rice (fifth, 49.05) and Emily Reid (eighth, 49.75). Elizabeth Croskey (14th), Olivia Reid (18th) and Annika Meyer (35th) also skied for the co-op team in the section meet.
Ally Adair of Edina took the top step of the podium in the individual competition with a two-run time of 46.27 second. Eagan junior Courtney Bumpers earned second place and a state berth, finishing in 47.27. Individual state qualifiers also included Brenna Peltz of Lakeville South (fourth, 48.92), Olivia Murphy of Lakeville South (seventh, 49.18), Erin Hahs of Lakeville North (ninth, 49.79), Megan Young of Eastview (10th, 50.06) and Isabella Barrios of Eagan (13th, 50.26).
Nordic skiing
Eastview/Rosemount finished second in the girls team standings at the Section 1 Nordic skiing championships Tuesday at Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington, earning a place in next week’s state meet.
This too went to a tiebreaker as Winona and Eastview/Rosemount each finished with 378 points. Both teams qualified for state, but the tiebreaker – the combined times of a team’s top three pursuit skiers – gave the section team championship trophy to Winona.
Eastview/Rosemount earned 159 of its points in the team relay event, where Evi Swenson and Noelle Wanken took first in 16 minutes, 57.3 seconds.
Eastview senior Emily Percival finished third in the girls pursuit race in 31:35.2. The pursuit competition consisted of a 5-kilometer classic leg and a 5K freestyle leg.
Liza Kerndt (ninth, 35:32.6) and Morgan Brown (12th, 35:47.3) also counted toward Eastview/Rosemount’s team score in pursuit. Emily Hopke placed 17th and Kayla Case was 22nd.
Sophomore Faye Braun and senior Ellyn Engels of the combined Lakeville North/Lakeville South team earned places at state in the individual pursuit. Braun had the fastest freestyle time by about five seconds and moved up to second overall in 31.35.2. Engels placed fourth in 33:03.0. The top four pursuit skiers who aren’t members of a qualifying team advance to state as individuals.
Anna Gilmer of Winona had a 30-second lead after the morning classic leg and went on to win the section pursuit championship in 31:20.2.
Prior Lake/New Prague and Winona were the top two teams in the Section 1 boys meet, with both advancing to state. The ISD 196 boys team (Apple Valley, Eastview, Rosemount and School of Environmental Studies) will send its team relay to state as Tyler Mullin and Walter Haakenson took second in 14:01.1, about 14 seconds behind the winning Winona team.
The top-finishing relay that isn’t part of a state-qualifying team also advances to state.
Eagan senior Luke Poppinga advanced to state by finishing third in the boys pursuit race in 27:58.4. He had the second-fastest classic time and was fifth in the freestyle.
Also advancing individually was Lakeville ninth-grader John Engels, who finished eighth in pursuit in 29:43.4.
Tommy Simmonds of Prior Lake/New Prague had the fastest time in both stages of the pursuit race and took first in 26:25.6.
Burnsville/Shakopee, previously part of the Section 1 meet, was reassigned to Section 2 and competed Tuesday at Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove. The co-op finished eighth in both the boys and girls team competitions.
Three Burnsville/Shakopee skiers will compete at next week’s state meet. Senior Kaelyn Ambuehl finished ninth in girls pursuit in 30:36.0. Lliam Merrel and Quinn Hess were section champions in the boys sprint relay in 15:49.1, 3.7 seconds ahead of the second-place team from Minneapolis Washburn.
The state Nordic meet will be Wednesday, Feb. 15, and Thursday, Feb. 15, at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. Sprint relays will be held the first day with the pursuit competition on the second day.
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