By Cathy Putman
Special to The Press Times

IOLA – Only partway into her first season as a Nordic skier, Greta Hansen (Green Bay Southwest) is still learning the sport on the Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team (ANST).

Hansen finished fourth in her first-ever classic race behind a trio of Wausau girls at the Central Conference competition Jan. 30 at the Iola Winter Sports Center.

A standout cross country runner without a fall season at Southwest, ANST coaches said Hansen’s summer and fall roller ski workouts are now bearing fruit.

Her high finish qualifies her for a preferred A seed position in the two-day state Nordic meet in mid-February.

The ANST boys posted three, top-10 finishes in a closely matched field on the 6-kilometer course.

Grant Rocheleau (Bay Port) led the seven-man crew with a fifth-place finish.

Kevin Johnson (Ashwaubenon) double-poled to seventh and Joe Stumpf (Notre Dame) placed ninth in a field of 28.

Jonathan Hanson (Pulaski – 15th), Mason Vinoski (Ashwaubenon – 19th), Noah Jahnke (West De Pere – 22nd) and Sam Calaway (Ashwaubenon – 25th) also competed.

The ANST middle schoolers reprised the short course they learned at the Iola Skate Invite two weeks ago, but this time as a classic, double-pole effort.

Ben Buchmann (Aldo Leopold) was the first ANST skier to cross the line, finishing 11th.

Parkview teammates Ashtyn Andersen (13th), Erik Johnson (17th), Alex Bogenschutz (24th) and Sean Johnson (26th) came in behind Buchmann.

For the middle school girls, Jillian Wentland (Pulaski – seventh) and Lauren Carlton (Parkview – eighth) finished within a few seconds of each other, while Ella Swanson (Wrightstown) finished 19th.

The Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team is a co-curricular activity of the district, practicing and racing with COVID-19 safe protocols.