By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – Green Bay East High School senior Jackson Adler is about as accomplished as they come in the cross-country ski world, but it’s the relationships with his teammates that is more noticeable.
“He is a fabulous leader by example,” said Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team coach Scott Putman. “His trust permeates positive relationships, and he just goes with that. His teammates see that and literally love him for it. He will always put others first and looks out for others.”
Adler, the 2019 Wisconsin Pursuit and Sprint State Champion, is also a member of the Midwest U20 Junior National team.
“My coach, parents, teammates and the team families have all been a part of making it happen,” said Adler. “Coach Putman has laid down a solid training plan and works tirelessly to put us on the fastest skis and wax. Teammates have been there to motivate and push me in training, while the parents and families have supported the team throughout the year. I’m just happy to finally win the state championship after the past two years of being third and second.”
As important as Adler taking home the individual honors, his ANST recently won the team title in the boys’ competition.
“Since last season, it’s been a team goal for us to win state,” Adler said. “Training all year long and pushing each other through workouts, it’s nice to finally see all the hours pay off – especially seeing a couple of top-ten finishes. My teammates are why I continue to ski. They make practices fun and are always good to be around. Having a smaller team has worked out well for us because we’ve all become very close and have been supportive of each other. Also, everyone on the team has been committed to going to practices, which makes staying motivated much easier.”
Bay Port’s Ryan Thieme (second) and Ashwaubenon’s Daniel Huhtala (seventh) also had strong performances at the state meet.
With the lack of snow and the extreme cold early in the season, the team had to travel north on the weekends for races and be creative during practice.
Cross-country skiing at the high school level is not as well known as the traditional sports, but it’s gaining popularity across the state, with the hopes that someday it will be a WIAA sanctioned sport.
“A decent amount of people know I ski but don’t know the depth of it, especially since I ski for a club team rather than a school team,” said Adler. “Skiing is definitely tough to understand if you aren’t a skier since it’s not a much-publicized sport and is often overlooked.”
Adler said he will attend UW-Green Bay next year to ski and possibly study physical therapy, but before that, he will head to Anchorage, Alaska, for Junior Nationals.
“It’s really cool to be a part of that and being able to race some of the best skiers in the nation,” he said. “Seeing and competing with higher-level skiers is a big part of developing as a racer. In addition, having some of my teammates make the national team over the past couple of years makes the experience even better.”
He also won the 2018 Classic Kortelopet in northern Wisconsin and recently finished 12th overall in the 2019 American Birkebeiner Classic 55-kilometer race. The “Birkie” is North American’s largest cross-country ski race.
“Jackson is excellent at listening and understanding, and along with his ability to trust, it makes him very easy to coach,” added Putman. “He is solid as a junior athlete in planning around the significant commitment that high-level junior Nordic ski racing requires. He is gifted athletically, has good balance, body awareness in space and in movement and really good natural strength and endurance. He responds well to physical training with development.”