Another banner year for Lake Conference boys and girls Nordic skiing is reflected in the coaches’ All-Lake selections for the 2024 season.
Although there was only a small amount of natural snow this winter, teams found practice time and meet space on tracks at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Baker Park Reserve, Hyland Hills Reserve and Elm Creek Park Reserve. The State Meet, as usual, was at Giant’s Ridge in Biwabik.
Mark Thone, coach of the Edina boys and girls Nordic teams talked about the challenges skiers faced this season: “We are fortunate to have local parks that make snow, but imagine if we had only four indoor hockey rinks. A scheduling nightmare occurred without having any other parks available for skiing.”
“It was definitely tough with the lack of snow, especially after a record snowfall last winter,” said Andrew Hansen, coach of the Wayzata boys and girls teams. “We had to adjust our practices in order to get on snow. Practice could be at 6 a.m. or 7 p.m. any given day, based on the time slot we would get from the Three Rivers Park District. I was very happy with how the kids adjusted and handled the situation. It can get a little boring skiing on the same 2K loop all winter, but the athletes put in a great effort and stayed positive.”
Wayzata won championships in Lake boys and girls Nordic this season. Both of those teams advanced to state along with the Minnetonka boys team and the Edina girls team, both Section 2 runners-up.
Minnetonka girls skiers Evie Malec and Nina Fedje placed first and second in Section 2 individual competition. Jace Haerter of Edina was runner-up in Section 2 on the boys side while Minnetonka’s Peter Hackney placed fifth. Elin Hartmann, leader of the Edina girls team, took sixth place in the section.
Lake Conference coordinator Jared Ellerson of Hopkins released the All-Lake list last week. It includes the state individual boys champion, Hopkins freshman Logan Drevlow, and Wayzata senior captain Daniel McCollor, who led his team to the state title by placing second in the individual ranks at Giant’s Ridge.
Wayzata sophomore Lila Golomb was among those honored on the girls side. She took third place in state competition.
The No. 1 Lake Conference Nordic skier, Sydney Drevlow, did not take part in conference or postseason high school meets this year since she was competing nationally and internationally as one of the top USA juniors.
Following is the all-conference list.
Boys Nordic
Wayzata: Seniors Daniel McCollor, Daniel Gladkov and Parker Dietrick and sophomores Matthew Jenneke and Charles Gundale.
Eden Prairie: Juniors Blake Chester and Ben Fosmer and sophomore Dylan Little.
Hopkins: Senior Liam Urbanowicz and freshman Logan Drevlow.
Edina: Junior Jace Haerter and sophomore Everett Olson.
Minnetonka: Freshman Peter Hackney.
Girls Nordic
Wayzata: Seniors Carlee Freeman and Grace Wermerskirchen, sophomore Lila Golomb and eighth-grader Claire Britton.
Minnetonka: Seniors Nina Fedje and Elizabeth Weider and ninth-grader Evie Malec.
Eden Prairie: Sophomores Sydney Bond and Ani Dirks.
Hopkins: Junior Daphne Grobstein and sophomore River White.
Edina: Seniors Elin Hartmann and Sophie Sannes-Eckhoff and sophomore Helen Chu.
Most Popular
Comments / 0