The Mound Westonka Nordic ski team kicked off the 2023-24 season Dec. 14 with a 4K skate race at Elm Creek Park Reserve. 50 degree temperatures created hard-packed and icy snow conditions for the skiers—particularly challenging in a skate race. Both the boys and girls teams finished in sixth place.

Junior Stella Miner led the White Hawks girls with a time of 13:36. Eighth grade skier Camryn Smith followed with a time of 14:27. Junior Isaac Hays finished first for the White Hawks boys with a time of 10:46. He was followed closely by fellow junior skier Miles Lund, who tallied a time of 11:02.

After the race, head coach Sue Harrison commented about the conditions and the team: "With this warm start to winter, it is only due to manmade snow that we have been able to do some training and hold this race at Elm Creek. Our new skiers successfully participated in the JV race. The veteran varsity skiers were excited to race, and did well. Missing two senior varsity girls due to illness significantly impacted the team score."