Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  In ski racing, every event is a chance to qualify for state. One must come up with a time that is in the state percentage, whether or not he or she has placed in top slots.

On Saturday, January 20, 2018, the Nederland High School Nordic team crossed over the Divide for a 5K skate race at the Vail Nordic Center and at the end of the day, four Panthers were already on the list to participate in the state championships at the end of the season: Sarah Davidson, Helen Cross, Scout Edmondson and Adler Mueller.

Coach Jen Lavely says, “It was really great watching everybody's technique meet their drive in very successful race performances on Saturday.” Many of the racers also set personal records, which is a great achievement this early in the season.

The girls came in 10 of 13 teams with 92 skiers. Aspen, Vail and Battle Mountain took the top three slots.

Girls’ places and times:

30. Sarah Davidson, 17:47

38. Helen Cross, 18:37

75. Ely Nitsch, 26:19

84. Meagan Figgins, 28:43

The Panther boys came in ninth of 14 teams, 136 racers, with Vail, Summit and Aspen grabbing the

top three places.

47. Scout Edmondson, 16:12,

61. Adler Mueller, 16:43

75. Adam Figgins, 17:22

90. Wesley Nation, 18:01

109. Jacob DeLong, 20:13

Missing Result, Bill McNamara

(Originally published in the January 25, 2018 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)