Eleven of the 29 Seeley Lake Nordic Ski Team participated in the Glacier Glide in Whitefish, Jan. 7. This is the first year they have matching uniforms and they received many compliments on the hats. Pictured front (L-R): Klayton Kovatch, Cora Stone, Hattie Mae Batchelder and Noah Stone. Back (L-R): Owen Hoag, Dakota Wood, Klaire Kovatch, Terra Bertsch, Eric Lorentz, Will Batchelder and Sadie Smith.
Noah Stone starts the 3K skate race during the Glacier Nordic Club's Glacier Glide on Sunday at Whitefish Lake Golf Club.
Terra Bertsch finishes the 3K skate ski race during the Glacier Nordic Club's Glacier Glide on Sunday at Whitefish Lake Golf Club.
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Nordic Ski Team started their season at the Glacier Glide in Whitefish, Jan. 7. Eleven of the 29 team members participated in the 3.5K Skate Race. Coach Bridget Laird said the team's number one goal is to have fun while working hard to become strong, competitive skiers.
This is the largest ski team Seeley Lake has ever had. They also have five Seeley-Swan High School students participating, the most upper classmen they have ever had on the team.
Coached by Laird, Mike McGrew, Andrew Wyatt and Karen Kovatch, the advanced skiers are working on perfecting their race techniques while the younger skiers will hone in on building confidence and endurance. There is also a "prep team" coached by Kelsi Luhnow that meets one day per week for those interested in joining the race team but having little or no skiing experience. Luhnow teaches them basic skate and classic techniques so they can move up to the race team.
As a team, the coaches stress sportsmanship and supporting and encouraging each other. The coaches are also working with the team on classic technique because, Laird wrote in an email, if skiers want to compete at a higher level, they need to be well-rounded skiers, strong in both skate and classic skiing.
The team will compete in seven races this season with the Glacier Glide being the first. The Skiesta Jan. 21 and SLE Outside Invitational Feb. 18 are the two hosted by the team. Other local races the team will participate in include the OSCR, Peter Hale Race and Snow Joke half marathon.
Because of the extremely cold weather the first week of organized practice, those that participated in the Glacier Glide had not trained together as a team.
"It was challenging but the kids pushed themselves and competed really well," wrote Laird.
All of the racers competed in the 3.5K skate race either in the under 10 (U10), under 12 (U12), under 14 (U14) or under 16 (U16) age brackets.
Klayton Kovatch and his sister Klaire were the top finishers for the Seeley Lake team, both finishing third overall for males and females with times of 16:03 and 13:53.
Klayton was first in the U12 age group with his teammate Owen Hoag finishing third in the age group with a time of 16:13.2.
Eric Lorentz finished second in the U16 male age group with a time of 15:48.6. His teammate Dakota Wood was right behind him taking third in the U16 with a time of 15:58.
Terra Bertsch crossed the line as at the only U16 female racer with a time of 16:49.5.
Cora Stone finished third for the females in the U12 age group with a time of 18:39.7.
Noah Stone was one second behind his sister with a time of 18:40.7. He came in second for the males U10.
"I think this season is off to a very promising start," wrote Laird. "If we can help develop in our kids a love for a sport they can continue to participate and compete in for the rest of their lives, we will have succeeded."
3.5K Skate Seeley Lake Nordic Team Males – Age Group, Place, Time: Klayton Kovatch, U12, 3rd, 13:53.9; Will Batchelder, U14, 6th, 15:19.5; Eric Lorentz, U16, 9th, 15:48; Dakota Wood, U16, 10th, 15:58; Owen Hoag, U12, 11th, 16:13.2; Noah Stone, U10, 14th, 18:40.7
3.5K Skate Seeley Lake Nordic Team Females – Age Group, Place, Time: Klaire Kovatch, U14, 3rd, 16:03.7; Sadie Smith, U14, 4th, 16:16.6; Terra Bertsch, U16, 5th, 16:49.5; Cora Stone, U12, 9th, 18:39.7; Hattie Mae Batchelder, U12, 14th, 26:24.88
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