Summit Nordic ski team prepares to compete in state championship meet
Michael Hagen/Courtesy photo
The Summit High School Nordic ski team is preparing to compete in the Nordic State Championships on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, at Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby.
Summit hosted the final regular season meet Friday, Feb. 13, at Gold Run Nordic Center in Breckenridge. Summit made the most of the home course advantage, winning both the girls and boys skate-style competitions.
The Summit boys team had a number of high finishers, including Johnny Ryan in third, Carter Niemkiewicz in fourth, Danny Butler in fifth, Levi Ryan in sixth and Griffin Heins in seventh. This individual performances helped the team score 226 points and defeat second-place Poudre (189 points) and third-place Middle Park (184 points) out of 10 teams.
Daniel Robinson in 13th, Owen Fallon in 14th and Malachi Love in 17th contributed to Summit’s dominance.
Donovan Ramey had a breakout race to place 18th and qualify for the state championship. Dylan Sullivan, Ben Gervais and Cooper Levi also placed in the top half of the field.
The score was closer on the girls side, with Summit defeating a strong Lake County team for the second time this season, both skate technique races, by a score of 217 to 213. Battle Mountain was third with 186 points.
Isla Elton from Vail Mountain School won, followed by Lucy Greenwood and Maeve Niemkiewicz from Summit in second and third. The points from the top four athletes from each team are combined for the team score. Marin Little placed fifth overall, just behind Lake County’s first finisher. Lake County’s second and third skiers finished sixth and ninth overall. Through three skiers, Summit had a healthy 173 to 164 lead. The team title would come down to the fourth-place finisher for each team. Lake County’s fourth skier came across the line in 12th place, while Summit’s Lucia Templeton in 18th place scored 44 points — enough to edge Lake County by four points. Lucia passed six skiers in the final stretch of the race to make up the points crucial to the victory.
The Summit boys will be looking for their third-straight title at the state championship meet as they compete in the skate race on Friday and classic and relay races on Saturday. The Summit girls will be looking to avenge their second-place finish to Lake County in last year’s state championship meet.
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