Nordic team excels at Kirkwood

By Karen Small

The Mammoth Middle School Nordic Team, coached by Robin Morning and Marie French, sent a total of 10 athletes to Kirkwood on Friday, Jan. 27 to compete in their first school league race of the season.

The Mammoth Middle School girls made a strong showing in their field of 61 racers over the 3km course on Kirkwood Meadows. Fleur Connolly skied with strength into 29th place and first year racer Meaghan Thompson, after dealing with two falls during the race, sped past several racers to finish 32nd.

In the boys Middle School 3km race, Cameron Small, after falling at the start and ending up near the back of the field of 68 racers, passed all but two skiers to finish in 3rd place. Trace Calvin skied strongly in the front of the pack during the whole race coming in 4th place, just over a second behind Cameron. It was fantastic to see two of Mammoth’s red and blue charging to the finish at the head of the pack! Connor Kusumoto, who was also caught up in a fall at the start, skillfully passed two-thirds of the racers to finish 23rd, while first year racer Calvin Forsythe showed his potential by placing 26th.

Martin Thompson made a strong showing in 41st place and Eddie Matthiessen sprinted into 48th place after experiencing a serious fall on the course. Both Quinn Contaldi (57th) and newcomer Jack Peckenpaugh (66th) skied the race with strong determination.

The Mammoth Nordic teams will host the league schools Friday, Feb. 3 at Tamarack XC Ski Center for the Mammoth Classic. High school starts at 11 a.m. and middle school at 12:30 p.m. The start and finish are in the teaching lanes near the YURT. Come out and cheer our team on —it will be a very exciting day!