Duluth East sweeps state Nordic ski sprint relays
Feb. 15—BIWABIK — Duluth East started the Minnesota state Nordic skiing meet with a clean sweep of the sprint relays on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Giants Ridge.
The Greyhounds duo of Liesl Cope-Schaeffer and Greta Hendrickson entered Wednesday's final as the favorites, being the only team to complete the event in under 17 minutes in the preliminaries, and exited it as state champions. Cope-Schaeffer, skiing legs one and three on the 1.3-kilometer course, and Hendrickson, skiing two and four, rolled to victory in a time of 16 minutes, 1.87 seconds for a margin of about 17.5 seconds over runners-up St. Paul Academy and Summit School with Stillwater Area a further 30 seconds back in third.
Cope-Schaeffer was also a winner alongside Rowan Bixler (skiing Thursday's pursuit) in this event in 2021, the first time a relay in this format was contested at the state meet.
East was in the fastest of the three preliminaries, winning by 26 seconds in a race that featured the eventual second- and fourth-place overall finishers. The winner of each of the three heats advanced, followed by the next five fastest times.
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton duo of Megan Chopskie and Charlotte Ripp finished fifth of eight in its heat (10:08.17) and did not advance to the final, being classified 17th of 24 teams.
On the boys side, East's Colin Willemsen and James Kyes claimed a similar victory. After logging the fastest time in the preliminaries, they stayed at the front of the field in the final, winning in 14:05.22. East and Wayzata dueled over the first three laps, with Kyes telling a Minnesota State High School League reporter that he trailed early in the fourth leg until a fall on the course in front of him.
Bemidji edged Minneapolis Southwest in a photo finish for second place, with places two through five decided by barely 1.5 seconds.
William Bauer and Hunter Williams represented Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, finishing fourth in their heat (15:52.72) but not advancing to the final. The Lumberjacks duo was classified in 16th of 24 teams.
East will carry the maximum 159 points into the second day of competition, the pursuit, which features a 5-kilometer classical race against the clock in the morning that will set a stagger for a 5-kilometer freestyle race to the finish line.
