Warm winter weather and less-than-average snowfall have made it a challenging ski season thus far, but Mother Nature and the snowmaking crew at Wirth Park mustered enough of the white stuff to hold a Nordic ski race on Jan. 9. The White Hawks Nordic ski team waxed their skis and headed to Golden Valley to compete. As a team, the varsity girls finished in seventh place, while the White Hawks boys ended in ninth.

This was a 5k skate race for varsity skiers. The temperature was 32 degrees. Alternating freeze and thaw conditions created some icy spots on the course, requiring skiers to balance speed versus control. A wipeout will impact your time, but so will being overly cautious. 

On the girls side, senior Averie Zealley had a strong individual finish with a time of 16:06. Junior Stella Miner finished second for the White Hawks with a time of 19:03, followed closely by senior Anna Wood at 19:17. Eighth graders Camryn Smith and Elise Hays finished fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by senior Ingrid Wulf, eighth grader Stella Johnson and sophomore Sophia Kravechenko.

Juniors took the top three times within the White Hawks boys varsity team led by Isaac Hays at 13:57. Tor Ehrdahl finished second at 16:26, and Luke Carlson finished third with a 16:53 time. Seniors August Schaefer and Clark Hanson followed not far behind.

The junior varsity girls skied a 2.5k race. Seventh-grade skier Louisa Johnson finished first among the White Hawks with a time of 11:59. Sophomore Ava Daum came in at 12:30 and eighth grader Jennifer DeMers at 17:54 - a great showing for these up-and-coming skiers. Ninth graders Henry Ruegemer and Sawyer Bruch led the junior varsity boys with respective times of 20:22 and 20:25, and eighth grader Brody Olson made a strong finish to round out the JV boys competition.

The team was thrilled to be able to compete and is looking forward to upcoming meets now that the winter weather is finally arriving.