BIWABIK, MINN. – As he crossed the finish line following the first leg — the freestyle race — of the boys' Nordic skiing state meet, Bloomington Jefferson's Zak Ketterson collapsed in a heap, gasping for breath. Though he was the pre-race favorite, the sophomore struggled like everyone else in the race with the half-foot of fresh snow that fell at the Giants Ridge Ski Area in Biwabik.
"It's tough to get much traction," he said. "It's a lot more work."
Ketterson's tumble was the result of an effort befitting the state's top-ranked skier. He had amassed an 18-second cushion going into the classic race, which he parlayed into a comfortable overall victory to win his first state championship with a combined pursuit time of 32 minutes, 52.7 seconds.
"He really pushed himself," Jefferson coach Jack Collis said. "He's got the motor to do that. You look at the best international racers and they're falling all over the place when they finish."
As Ketterson cruised through the finish of the classic leg of competition, victory in hand, voices could be heard marveling at his victory.
"That's just great genetics," said one commenter.
None other than Ketterson agreed. "In distance races like running and skiing, genetics do play a large part," he said. "But I worked hard for this and it's nice to see the hard work pay off."
Hipp leads Forest Lake to title
While every racer had to deal with the snow, it was more welcome to some than others.
Forest Lake junior Leo Hipp, 5-9 and 150 pounds, wasn't fazed by the soft powder. He felt it played to his strengths. Hipp was second after the skate race and finished third overall, helping the Rangers to the team championship with 380 points.
"I'm smaller, so I can glide a little better than those bigger guys," Hipp said. "But it probably takes 15, 20 percent more effort to ski in fresh snow."
The championship was the fifth for the Rangers but their first since 2009. Team members, aware of the past success but never having experienced it, vowed early this season to add their names to the Forest Lake history books.
"We talked about this all year," Hipp said. "This has been our goal. The team tournament is what it's all about."
St. Louis Park was second with 351 points and Duluth East third with 350.
Watts holds off Hett
Irondale's Mattie Watts and Burnsville's Vivian Hett know each other well. Not only do they compete against each other in high school meets and often outside them, but they were teammates on the U.S. Junior National team that recently returned from competition in Finland.
So, despite Watts dominating the first portion of the girls' Nordic skiing meet to lead runner-up Hett by more than 22 seconds, the Irondale senior knew she couldn't relax.
Good thing, too, because Watts needed nearly all of that lead to hold off a charging Hett and become the first skier from Irondale to win a state championship. Watts won in a time of 37:14.6, six seconds ahead of Hett.
"I know how good [Hett] is, so I knew I couldn't take it easy," Watts said. "At one point, I could hear her breathing behind me and I was like 'Ahhhhhh.' "
Making Watts' life harder was that she skied the classic portion of the race on someone else's skis.
"My dad took mine after the first race and we couldn't find them after that," she said. "I borrowed skis from a friend. They skied pretty well, but I was freaking out. I'm just glad I could hang on."
Hett, who had closed the gap to within two seconds while on the woodsy course, faltered down the stretch.
"She's a better sprinter than I am," she said. "I had a bad first race and I just couldn't come back from it. She's a good friend and I'm happy for her. [Thursday], it was her turn."
Wayzata wins another
The Wayzata girls' team put the finishing touches on a six-month stretch to remember. Many of the skiers competed for the Trojans' state and national-champion cross-country team. They were the No. 1-ranked Nordic racing team all season and showed why with a dominant team effort. The Trojans had four girls finish in the top 13 — Alayna Sonnesyn, Anna French, Michaela Keller-Miller and Nicole Schneider — to run away with the title with 382 points.
"It's been so much fun getting to compete with these girls," said Sonnesyn, a senior who was the Trojans' top finisher at third overall. "We run together, we train together, we've gotten so close. What a great way to finish my career."
