Duluth East’s Carlson, Proctor/Hermantown’s Hanson lead Northlanders at State Alpine meet

Duluth East’s Carlson, Proctor/Hermantown’s Hanson lead Northlanders at State Alpine meet

Duluth East’s Carlson, Proctor/Hermantown’s Hanson lead Northlanders at State Alpine meet

The 2024 State Alpine ski meet returned to Biwabik at Giants Ridge on Tuesday. The temperatures were far milder in comparison to the 2023 meet, with temperatures this year hovering right around 25 degrees.

“The snow kind of takes on conditions of what’s outside, so since it’s warmer out it’s a little stickier,” Jordan Flohaug said, a Duluth East sophomore.

“There was a delay that went directly across the hill, we were skiing sideways at one point. It was really icey, really bumpy in some spots, the course setter really did their job. They set a really tough course for great skiers,” Travis Bird said, a Rock Ridge senior. “It’s really cool to know that I’m the first boy to go back-to-back, the first boy to make state for the Wolverines team. I’d like to see a whole bunch of them coming through the years.”

Taking the overall crown would be Irondale’s Anthony Petkov, finishing first with a combined two-run time of 1:15.69. The top Northland boy finisher was Duluth East senior Erik Carlson, taking 24th with a time of 1:21.29.

“It’s really exciting. This year the pressure was kind of off me because I broke my wrist last Friday, so I wasn’t really expecting much,” Carlson shared.

In the girls race, Vivien Pihlstrom of Blake took first with a time of 1:20.66. The star for the Northland would be sophomore Annabel Hanson of Proctor/Hermantown, taking 11th with a time of 1:23.95.

“I think the courses this year were really well done. They did a really good job setting them, they did complicated spots which I like the complicated spots because it gives me a little bit of a challenge to ski on. So, it was a lot of fun today,” Hanson said.

As teams, the Cook County boys and Duluth East girls each finished fourth. For full team results, Click Here: Boys. Girls.

Find full individual results here: Boys. Girls.

The State Nordic meet is Wednesday and Thursday back in Biwabik at Giants Ridge.