After a long season, Park girls Nordic won the 6A Section Tournament on Feb. 6, qualifying for state next week. Park boys Nordic placed in fifth and did not qualify for state.
According to Nordic coach Doug Peterson, watching the end of sections was tense but rewarding.
“Sections was a nail biter,” Peterson said. “It was tied after the races, so with the new tiebreaker rules you take the top three individuals — Hanna, Jersey and Ayelel — and their times were better than Wayzata’s time. That’s been the third year in a row.”
Sophomore Kaylee Crump said she was thrilled for the team to be able to go to state.
“It was very good. Our girls team won, so we’re going to state next week, which is really exciting,” Crump said.
Junior Nora Lindeman said she and the rest of the team did well at sections.
“Sections went really well,” Lindeman said. “For me personally, I had two big PRs (personal records), and everyone else skied really well too.”
Peterson said he’s content with how well both the girls and boys team have done this year.
“I couldn’t be happier with the team’s performance this year. The whole team has stuck together really well,” Peterson said. “The boys, they’ve also had a good year. They were the champions at the Loppet Invite, so everyone’s had a little bit of a taste of success.”
According to Crump, even though the tournament was exciting, she had hoped to get first in relay.
“Our relay team was hoping to beat Wayzata, but we got second to them, which was a little disappointing,” Crump said.
Lindeman said the timing was right for the team to succeed and they delivered.
“We came out and crushed it,” Lindeman said. “Everything just aligned; it was just the right day where we peaked at the right moment. We came out there and just attacked it.”
Crump said while Wayzata beat Park previously, they reclaimed victory this year at sections.
“Two years ago, we won sections by like one point, and the second and third place were tied,” Crump said. “Last year Wayzata beat us but this year we beat them (overall).”
Lindeman said she’s looking forward to the opportunity to race in a larger meet like state.
“I’m so excited for state,” Lindeman said “I’ve never raced in that big of a meet before. It’s always been something that I felt like I could do and not something that I thought I could do this year.”
Peterson said the team plans to rest and relax in preparation for state.
“We’re not planning on improving much for state,” Peterson said. “Just trying to stay healthy and rest up. We’ve got one really good effort left.”
The girls team competes at state on Feb. 14 and 15 at Giants Ridge Golf and Ski Resort.
