The Lake County women’s nordic team won CHSAA’s first ever state championship last year, and they came into this season ready to defend that title. The Lady Panthers led through the regular season, winning 4 out of 6 races. The team’s two losses were to Summit in skate discipline events.
This year’s state championships opened with a 5 kilometer skate race. With a boost from freshman Hattie Mallozzi (who finished 8th), the Lady Panthers placed their 4 scorers in the top 12 and beat Summit by 1 point.
Saturday began with a classic race. Lake County’s top 4 ladies all finished in the top 10, but the Summit athletes skied really well, and the two teams finished that event in a tie.
The final competition of the weekend was a 4-person relay. The first two athletes skied a classic leg, and the second two athletes did the 1.5 kilometer loop in the skate discipline. Whoever won the relay would gain 10 points on the 2nd place team, so it was a must-win for Lake County to reclaim their title.
Finnley Stanek opened for the Panthers and held even with her Summit opponent. Aimee Lenhard took the 2nd leg and was able to break away from her counterpart, giving Chloe King a decent lead on the 3rd leg. The third Summit athlete made an aggressive move on the first climb and looked like she might reel Chloe in, but Chloe held her off. Lyza Zoller anchored the Lake County relay and kept the lead, skiing the Panthers to victory!
Based on results through the whole season, King, Lenhard, Stanek and Zoller were named First Team All State, while Mallozzi earned Second Team All State honors.
The boys’ team finished 5th in the regular season and had 2 athletes named to the Second Team All State list: Wilson Anderson and Jude Peters.
