The results are in, and the Sartell-Cathedral combined Girls Nordic Ski team took 11th place overall at the state meet at Giants Ridge in Biwabik.
Biwabik is north of Duluth, and east of Virginia, on the Iron Range.
Seven girls competed at state, along with two alternates. The seven competitors are: Anna Lindell, Haley Anderson, Lauren Buchholz, Mackenzie Dockendorf, Madilyn Fesenmaier and Maggie Baumann, all of Sartell; and, Rachel Eickhoff, Cathedral. The two alternates are: Chesney Tillemans and Emma Wildeson, both of Sartell.
Of the seven competitors, only four of their scores counted toward the team’s total score at the state meet.
Of those four, Eickhoff finished 55th out of 157, Lindell finished 58th, Dockendorf finished 66th and Buchholz finished 116th.
This was the team’s first time heading to state.
“We’re happy to make it. They’ve never gone before, so [the girls] are pretty excited,” said Head Coach Joe Teff said in an earlier interview.
The team had to beat out Little Falls at sections, who tends to go to state competition every year. Sections were held at MapleLag, near Detroit Lakes on Feb. 3. The team took second place, right behind Mora.
There are 45 girls in total on the team. Sartell High School and Cathedral High School compete as a joint team, in both boys and girls Nordic Skiing.
Assistant coaches for the team are Bailey Drewes, a student at the College of St. Benedict, Jane Fark and Mike Schroden.
Gruber is a reporter for the Newsleaders. He grew up in Melrose, MN, attended St. John's University, spent over a year teaching English in China, and most recently worked as the morning producer at WDIO-TV in Duluth, where he won a 2014 Upper Midwest Emmy for daytime newscasts. He enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with his wife, Jeni, and newborn daughter, Lucy, at their home in Sartell. To learn more about Gruber, head to about.me/logangruber