By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – As a freshman, Bay Port’s Ryan Thieme said he thought running might be his future sport in college.
Four years later, the senior is heading to UW-Green Bay to Nordic ski this fall.
“My parents, Derik and Lisa, Nordic skied when they were younger, so I grew up skiing in the back yard,” said Thieme, who will study business administration/marketing at Green Bay. “Eventually, they took me to the trails, and I got more efficient. It was always in the back of my mind maybe I’d ski in college, and as time went by, it became more realistic.”
Thieme won the 2020 state sprint championships and finished runner-up at the pursuit championships by nine seconds skiing for the Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team (ANST), a co-op squad in the Green Bay area.
“I had a great first day classic skiing at state,” Thieme said. “I was two seconds ahead after the first day, but then Eli Gore beat me in the last kilometer the second day. It was overall a great result and a fun race.”
Thieme said his most memorable moment is being a part of two consecutive state title teams with ANST.
“My most embarrassing moment occurred skiing relays at practice at the rifle range,” he said. “I was going around skiing with a couple of teammates, and I face-planted. The whole team saw it happen.”
Thieme, whose nickname is “Ryno,” recently traveled to Truckee, California, for the junior national’s competition to ski against the best in the country.
“With the race being at altitude, I had a tough race the first day in the 10-kilometer classic,” he said. “Two days later, I advanced to the quarterfinals in the sprint competition and felt better.”
After the first two days of competition were completed, the rest of the competition was canceled due to the fears of the spread of COVID-19.
A state qualifier in both cross country running and track, Thieme, who said he would have played tennis at Bay Port if he could have, made the difficult decision not to run last fall with the team.
“At that point, I realized I wanted to ski in college,” he said. “It was hard not being with the guys every day after school for practice, but I wanted to focus my fall training on skiing. I think I made the right decision. I’m hoping there’s a track season this spring so I can get another shot at being with the guys.”
Thieme’s 1,600-meter relay team finished second at state last season by about two-tenths of a second.
His hobby includes anything business-related, and it’s led to him and a friend starting a local business.
“It’s a part-time, home-assistance service where people can schedule times for the highest-quality freelances from the area to help with home projects,” said Thieme, who describes himself as consistent, detail-oriented and hard-working.
Thieme has an older brother, Kyle, who ran for a year at the University of Evansville before transferring to UW-Milwaukee, and a younger brother, Blake, who is a freshman at Bay Port.
His dad attended Kettle Moraine High School, while his mom went to Waukesha South, where she finished runner-up at state in Nordic skiing.
“Bay Port is a great school, and I’ll miss being able to walk in and see the friendly faces every day and having a solid support group.”
Besides skiing and running, Thieme likes sweet potatoes, cookies and cream ice cream, Starburst, watching football, Valentine’s Day and the color blue.
Editor’s note: If you have a suggestion for the Nicolet National Bank Senior Spotlight, message Rich at [email protected].