By Cathy Putman
For the Press Times
BRILLION – Four Ashwaubenon Nordic skiers placed in the top 10 at the Wisconsin State Sprint Meet held Sunday, Feb. 4, at Ariens Nordic Center in Brillion.
Several additional varsity athletes raced through to the finals.
Owen Wick (Ashwaubenon) was the fastest male sprinter in the state, winning the quarter, semi and final in a field of 120 athletes.
He was also crowned State Team Champion with his teammate Ben Buchmann on Saturday.
Buchmann (Ashwaubenon), another speedy athlete took fifth in the overall on Sunday.
Lauren Carlton (Notre Dame) raced to less than half a ski length out of first space in the final sprint, losing to Iola skier, Josephine Kwasny.
She was first in the qualifying round and in all heats leading up to the final.
With teammate Paige Beining (Notre Dame), Carlton was runner-up in the team sprint on Saturday.
Beining was fifth in the individual sprint.
All four athletes posted significant improvement over their 2023 top 20 finishes.
In a standout freshman performance, Ella Swanson (Wrightstown) was 14 th in the overall sprint standings, working her way through the preliminary races to the B final. The varsity field was 82 girls.
The varsity boys who made the cut to advance included Ashwaubenon freshmen, Sean Johnson, Erik Johnson and Jacob Shobe who placed 16, 18 and 21 in the overall.
The State Sprint Championships attracted 16 school and club-based teams to the event. Ariens Nordic Center strategically conserved the course during a two day warm-up making it possible to hold the largest high school state sprint meet in Wisconsin Nordic history.