Nordic skiers race at Hoodoo

The Sisters High School Nordic ski team raced in an Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association meet held at Hoodoo on Saturday, January 21, and gave the OISRA teams a real run for their money.

The meet, hosted by Mountain View and sponsored by Oxford Suites, featured teams from Ashland, South Eugene, Corvallis, Sheldon, and Creswell. Sisters is a member of the Oregon High School Nordic Organization (OHSNO), but arranged to join the OISRA meet to get another competition in before returning to the league schedule next week.

Conditions were very challenging, according to Coach Tom Blust, making the classic course slow.

"The tracks laid on the course earlier in the morning, completely disappeared under new snow before race time," he said. "Our kids proved their hardiness, though, as four of our six racers placed in the top 10 in their respective races."

Mason Calmettes returned to action after some knee trouble and made the most of the race, finishing a strong second on the 5,500-meter course. The winner, Trevor Merrifield of South Eugene, finished the course in 21:39, which was just over a minute faster than Calmettes (22:43).

Sophomore Devon Calvin came through 40 seconds later to finish fifth in 23:23, while the team's final scorer, Seth Roy, placed 36th in 45:58.

The girls team came up with similar results, as Amity Calvin raced to a second-place finish, just seven seconds behind the winner, Hayati Wolfenden of Mountain View, who was timed in 24:38. Courtney Blust finished fifth (28:38), and Elena Saldi pushed through to her top finish of the season, placing 20th in 33:38.

The girls came back after the main race and won the relay, which pulled them into a tie with Mountain View for the top team honors, with 33 points. Sisters lost on the tie-breaker, which includes the place of the fourth-best skier, which the Outlaws lacked.

Among boys teams, Sisters placed third with 46 points, behind Mountain View (18) and South Eugene (33) among the five complete teams.

Blust viewed the meet as a turning point for his small team at mid-season.

"The team continues to amaze me," he said. "The kids' sheer determination more than makes up for the fact that we only have six skiers going up against much larger teams. This race should provide a boost of confidence for the team going into the rest of the season. Despite being miserably cold by the end of the day, our team all had big smiles on their faces."

The team returns to OHSNO action January 28 for the Hoodoo Classic.