Sisters Nordic skiers show talent

After last week’s twilight race tune-up, the Outlaw Nordic Ski team showed it is definitely ready to compete with a very strong outing at the first league meet of the season Saturday, January 14, at Hoodoo.

The Sisters girls had three racers in the top nine to take second place among seven Northern Division teams in a classic-style event measured at just under five kilometers.

Redmond won the meet with 14 points by placing three racers among the top four. Sisters scored 48 points, Summit 55, St. Mary’s Academy 60, Crescent Valley 76, ACMA 108, and Crook County 111. Jena Rickards (18:15), Audrey Tehan (18:32), and Molly Blust (18:41) finished seventh, eighth and ninth to lead the Outlaw effort. Other finishers included Maren Burck (19:52), Erin Kanzig (21:19), Kirsti Burck (21:55), Rachel Sims (22:56), Ryanne Conrads (25:35), Mac Gould (28:26) and Nikki Thomas (30:09).

The relay team of Jena Rickards, Maren Burck, and Molly Blust finished fourth in 10:59. Redmond won the relay in 9:31.

The boys fared nearly as well, finishing third with 54 points behind Redmond (19) and Summit (20). Corvallis finished fourth with 77 points and Cleveland was fifth with 88 points. Kelly Crowther (15:28) and Jacob Evan (15:40) finished 12th and 13th respectively and Stefan Redfield (16:41) completed the team scoring by finishing 16th.

Wesley Ford (16:48), Jeremy Evan (17:20), Kyle Rickards (18:17), and Lucas Glick (19:00) rounded out the rest of the squad.

The Outlaw relay team comprised of Kelly Crowther, Jacob Evan and Wes Ford finished third in 9:04. Redmond and Summit battled it out for first and second, finishing in 7:24 and 7:29 respectively.

A week earlier, in the first annual Hoodoo Twilight Freestyle race, Northern Division skiers got their first opportunity to see one another in action.

Jena Rickards showed she is a force to contend with, finishing third in 13:34 behind Sarah Hartley (12:58) and Carissa Mares (12:59) of Redmond. Freshman Molly Blust drew attention with her strong seventh-place finish in 15:02 among 52 skiers. On the boys’ side, Kelly Crowther and Jeremy Evan finished neck-and-neck in 12:49 and 12:50 to place 14th and 15th respectively among the 39 starters.

The team hits the trail again Saturday, January 21 at Mt. Bachelor for a five-kilometer freestyle race beginning at 11 a.m.