CALLAWAY — The Alexandria Nordic ski teams competed over the course of two days at the Section 8A meet at Maplelag Resort near Callaway with spots at the state meet in Biwabik up for grabs.
Sophomore Jaelyn Miller grabbed one of those spots and will race at state for the second time in her career.
This year’s section meet had athletes racing the 5-kilometer classic race on Feb. 8 before the 5.6-kilometer sprint relay and 4.8-kilometer freestyle races took place on Feb. 9.
The Alexandria boys finished seventh as a team with 312 points, while the girls took fifth place with 351 points. Brainerd, with 384 points, and Bemidji (382) took the top two spots in the girls’ team standings in the 12-program field. Little Falls (381) won the boys section title, with Brainerd (375) finishing second.
Miller was the top underclassmen in the entire pursuit as she finished third overall in a total time of 34:24.6. Brainerd senior Liliana Schaeffer won the pursuit championship in 33:07.3, and Bemidji senior Mary Beth Mathews was second in 34:08.6.
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Miller raced the classic portion of the pursuit in 17:43.2 and the freestyle in 16:41.4. Freshman Mackenzie Jurchenko was Alexandria’s next best finisher in the girls’ race with a 12th-place finish in 35:42.1 (18:46.7 classic, 16:55.4 freestyle).
Freshmen Bobbi Nichols (24th, 37:06.8; 19:13.2 classic, 17:53.6 freestyle) and Kasey Soderholm (27th, 37:58.4; 20:00.2 classic, 17:58.2 freestyle) also raced the pursuit, and senior Lauren Englund did the same and finished 25th in 37:13 (19:22.5 classic, 17:50.5 freestyle).
The two-person team of Lauren Huber and Dulce Bakker skied the relay for Alexandria. They were third in the preliminary round with a time of 20:02.6 before finishing fifth in the finals in 19:32.7.
“We would like to express our congratulations to Jaelyn Miller for qualifying for her second state Nordic skiing tournament,” Alexandria head coach Jeremy Rapp said. “We would also like to express our gratitude to our three seniors — Dulce Bakker, Lauren Englund, and Matthew Johnson — for the years of dedication and contribution in which we will always be grateful for.”
Johnson wrapped up his Alexandria career by taking 50th in the boys pursuit race with a total time of 47:36.3 (30:03.6 classic, 17:32.7 freestyle).
Junior Ryker Bosek led the Alexandria boys with a 13th-place finish in the pursuit. He came across in a total time of 30:52.1 after skiing the classic portion in 16:12.5 and the freestyle in 14:39.6. Junior Connor Grant of Little Falls won the pursuit title in 28:05 (14:40.3 classic, 13:24.7 freestyle), and junior Zaine Braaten of Moorhead was second in 28:13.1 (14:46.2 classic, 13:26.9 freestyle).
Alexandria junior Spenser Chinn raced to a 26th-place finish in 34:42.4 (18:11.1 classic, 16:31.3). Sophomore Cyler Coauette (33rd, 36:04.6; 18:35.6 classic, 17:29 freestyle) and freshman Colton Converse (40th, 38:30.1; 20:14.1 classic, 18:16 freestyle) rounded out the Cardinals’ lineup in the pursuit.
The Alexandria duo of Maxwell Chinn and Luke Walsh qualified for the relay finals with a time of 19:31.2 in the prelims. They were seventh in the finals with a time of 19:29.4.
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The state meet at Giants Ridge in Biwabik is set for Feb. 16 and 17. The girls’ 5K classic race will take place at 3 p.m. on Feb. 16 before the 5K freestyle runs at that same time on Feb. 17.
