Two Northwoods athletes compete at the national level

The Rhinelander/Northland Pines ski and snowboarding team had two of its athletes compete for three days at the Western U.S. High School Ski Championships in Loveland, Colo., last week.

Northland Pines junior Eli Repenshek and Rhinelander senior Ben Olson were selected for Team Wisconsin after their qualifications at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Alpine Racing Association (WIARA) State High School championships last month.

Teams were made from California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming. Team Wisconsin finished third overall of the nine states that competed. The team finished third across the board in the two runs each for the giant slalom and slalom races, except for one fourth-place finish. Nevada had two divisions, which is why there were nine teams.

Rhinelander/Northland Pines Alpine ski and snowboarding head coach Rod Olson talked about the competition and what the experience means for Repenshek as he moves into his senior season next year.

“The altitude made it very difficult for our racers to compete at their normal levels, very tiring. The elevation at the Start was about 11000 feet compared to our 1500 feet. The runs were also four times the length of our average race, so our racers were exhausted,” Olson said. “The experience will pay dividends for Eli next year. Racing in a big race always creates a huge learning experience and confidence.”

Repenshek and Olson kicked off the competition with Team Wisconsin on March 17 with the giant slalom.

The Pines junior did not finish his first run, but bounced back on the second time down the hill with a time of 43.66, which was good for 50th overall of over 90 athletes. Olson took 41st overall after finishing both runs. His times of 44.94 and 42.45 put his overall time at 1:27.39.

On day two of the competition, skiers competed in the slalom race, the most technical discipline in alpine skiing.

Repenshek again had a mishap in the opening run but nearly cracked the top-30 in his second run.

Coach Olson said his finish on the second time down was big for Team Wisconsin’s third-place finish.

“Eli was able to make a big save for Team Wisconsin in the last run of the Slalom. We needed two finishers with only four of our racers left, and Eli pulled off a 39th, securing third place for us, so a clutch save for us,” he stated.
Olson had another competitive run in the slalom, finishing 32nd overall in the field. He posted a time of 52.40 on his first time down the hill before taking a time of 1:07.73 in his second run.

The Western National High School Alpine Championships will be held in Minnesota next year.