Team Gogebic at the State Meet
MARQUETTE, MI - by Jackie Powers - Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - The Team Gogebic Nordic Ski Club has produced its first state champion. The team traveled to Marquette for the Michigan High School Nordic State Championships this past weekend. Ben Noren of Ironwood won the sprint competition Friday with a qualifying time of 3:11 in the 1.2 K race.
Saturday began with Noren again victorious in the 5 K skate race with a time of 14:03.9, earning him a seven second head start in the classical portion of the pursuit that afternoon. “I was concerned,” said head coach Ken Hazel. “I feared the hilly course favored the two boys who started just eight seconds behind Ben. I knew he would need to have the race of his career to hold them off.” Kai Sharp of the Copper Country Ski Tigers was first across the line with a time of 18:41.7, Ross Williams of the Traverse City Trojans was second, and Noren came in third. "They got me on the hills," an exhausted Ben said afterwards. When asked if he was disappointed with the finish, Coach Hazel said, “Are you kidding me? He finished third in the state and he’s the sprint champion. When you count the quarter- and the semi-finals, he’s finished first in five out of six races this weekend. That is an amazing accomplishment. In fact I’m proud of all our kids here today.”
Britta Schroeder of Ironwood also brought home a medal, for her ninth place finish in the girls sprints, with a time of 4:09.2, and just missed a medal as the 11th girl in the pursuit. Sam Kolesar of Bessemer and Steven Barnebo of Hurley rounded out Team Gogebic’s comparatively small roster. Kolesar placed 25th in the sprints and 26th in the pursuit. Barnebo placed 31st in the sprints and 36th in the pursuit. Together the four skiers finished fifth of the twelve teams competing. “I’m very happy with the results,” said Coach Hazel. “When you stop and consider that up until three years ago the Gogebic Range had no Nordic ski team. Ben’s only been skiing three years and Steven just learned how to ski in December. His willingness to show up at a state meet with only three months of training so we could have a full team shows courage,” he said. “Schroeter competed as our only girl and has shown steady improvements since last year. All four of these kids worked through the summer and fall preparing for ski season. I want the community to know that these young athletes are out there representing our area, and to congratulate them for what they’ve accomplished in a short period of time.”
Top honors went to the Copper Country Ski Tigers for winning both the boys and girls overall team awards.
For more information on Team Gogebic, visit their web site at www.teamgogebic.com.
Pictured Above: Team Gogebic at the Michigan High School Nordic State Championships include, from left to right: Steven Barrnebo, Sam Kolesar, Coach Ken Hazel, Ben Noren, and Britta Schroeter.
To view race results click the following links: