Section 5 Nordic: Several qualify for state; Mehrhof wins boys' pursuit title

By Jason Olson
SportsPrepZone Editor

Osseo grabbed the Section 5AA boys' nordic title at Camp Riley Tuesday afternoon, but several area skiers qualified for the state meet at Giants Ridge near Biwabik Feb. 11.

Andover 's boys' and girls' teams each placed second with Osseo edging the boys' team by 11 points while Robinsdale Armstrong captured the girls' title by eight points.

Skiers completed a five kilometer skate-and classic-style course to determine the best of the section in a pursuit or combined-time format.

Coon Rapids sophomore Calvin Mehrhof won the pursuit in 33 minutes, 24 seconds after winning the classic portion in 17:43 and placing third in the freestyle in 15:41. Mehrhof was 28 seconds ahead of runner-up Osseo sophomore Anders Evenson in the classic and finished within 19 seconds of freestyle race champion, Andover 's Adam Larson.  The Huskies senior finished in 33:48, winning the freestyle race in 15:22 while finishing fourth in classical in 18:26.

Both will be part of the pack at the state meet in addition to the top eight skiers, not part of Osseo's squad. The rest of the state qualifiers include:

Place, name, school, pursuit, classic, free
3. Alex Strange, Mounds View, 6. 34:24, 9. 18:42, 4. 15:42
4. Luke Jankowski, Irondale, 7. 34:43, 12. 18:53, 6.15:50
5. Erik Lindberg, Mounds View, 8. 34:43. 10. 18:44, 7. 15:59
6. Adam Nelson, Coon Rapids , 9.34.45, 3. 18:21, 15. 16:24
7. Dan Nielsen, Andover , 10. 34:50, 5. 18:27, 14. 16:23
8. Joe Hjerpe, Armstrong, 11. 35:01, 8. 18:40, 11. 16:21

Girls' race
Cooper senior Alice Flanders edged Andover senior Marissa Yovetich by 36 seconds to capture the pursuit title. Yovetich finished the classic race with a 15 second lead over Flanders who made up that deficit and then some by winning the freestyle race in 16:52. Yovetich was second in 17:43.

Spring Lake Park /St. Anthony senior Andrea Larson placed ninth in the pursuit, in a group of four, within four seconds. She turned in a time of 40:55, two seconds behind eighth place and two seconds ahead of 11th place. Larsen skied to a fifth place finish in freestyle in 18:33 and 13th place in classical in 22:22.
The rest of the state qualifiers include:

Place, name, school, pursuit, classic, free
3. Kaelyn Williams, Cooper, 3. 39:27, 5. 21:26, 3. 18:01
5. Nicole Heitzman, Andover , 5. 40:20, 6. 21:49, 4. 18:31
8. Kayley Shagen, Osseo, 8. 40:53, 7. 21:54, 12. 18:59
9. Andrea Larsen, Spring Lake Park /St. Anthony, 9. 40:55, 13. 22:22, 5. 18:33
10. Ann Lindberg, Mounds View, 10. 40:56, 11. 22:11, 9. 18:45
11. Maddie McKeefry, Andover , 11. 40:57, 10. 22:02, 11. 18:55

Jason Olson is at jason.olson@ecm-inc.com.