Lady Outlaws Nordic team wins at state meet

Behind the combined individual championship effort by sophomore Molly Blust and a very strong second day effort by her teammates, the Sisters High School girls Nordic team captured its first-ever Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association team title Saturday, February 24 at Mt. Bachelor.

The girls put second place Mountain View out of the money when Blust won Saturday's five-kilometer classic race and added Jena Rickards next and Audrey Tehan in sixth.

Because of the interval start Blust wasn't sure of her victory until all the racers were in and times began to be posted on the scoreboard. Her winning time of 20:31 bettered Friday's freestyle winner Cameron Rolle by nearly 2 minutes, who finished fifth in 22:12, which launched Blust into first place in the overall standings.

"My plan on Saturday was to just go as hard as I could. I didn't want to leave the race with any regrets," said Blust. "When I realized that I had won the classic title, I checked Cameron's time to see if I had made up the 34 seconds - I had which meant that I'd won the overall girls title, but I couldn't really believe it at the moment."

Blust was just as pleased with her teammates' efforts.

"I think that Jena, Audrey and I really make a good team and we all push each other. They both raced really great," she said. Rickards finished in 21:16 and Tehan in 22:16.

"Those three girls made it happen," said coach Lee Fischer. "Each one of them performed magnificently."

In Friday's freestyle race Blust placed second (20:50) and Rickards third (21:56) behind Rolle, which put the Outlaws slightly ahead of Mountain View. Audrey Tehan struggled a bit and placed fifteenth in 24:15. The Cougars had placed skiers in fifth, ninth and 10th places, leaving Sisters with 20 points to 24 for Mountain View.

The Outlaws felt grateful for the four-point lead, but the team knew that Mountain View would be gunning for them. Saturday's relay race showed clear evidence of the Cougar's desire as Rickards, Tehan and Blust chased the Mountain View trio throughout the 3x1-kilometer event.

Blust made up all of a 10-second deficit on the final leg but couldn't get past Mountain View's Whitney Wolfe, who held on for the photo finish despite a fall with 200 yards to go.

The official time gave Mountain View the win in 10:42 to 10:42.5 for Sisters, but it was actually even closer than that, according to Lee Fischer: "It was literally a matter of inches," he said. "I never thought that I would catch up to Whitney and after she fell, I thought that I might have a chance to pass her. The final stretch seemed to go on forever," said Blust.

Thankfully, the Outlaws had established enough of a cushion to hold off the Cougars to win the title with 40 points to 49 for Mountain View.

Ashland finished third with 66 points, South Eugene was fourth (124), St. Mar's fifth (140) and Cleveland sixth (187). Rickards joined Blust among the top combined finishers, placing third in 43:12 to Blust's 41:21. Cameron Rolle of Ashland finished in second place with a combined time of 42:28.

"It was satisfying for our comparatively small team of 11 skiers to take on Mountain View's squad of 30 girls and come away with first place," said Fischer.