After a rigorous and challenging course at the Section 6 meet in which sophomore boys’ Nordic skier Keelan Gordman qualified for State with a 7th place finish, Gorman had an impressive showing at State, finishing in the top 45 in both the 5K and Pursuit events.

Compared to the Section competition, not only was the State course tougher, but the opponents were faster as well. The competitors at Nordic State are the best high school Nordic skiers in the state of Minnesota. “The state skiers compete at an elite level,” Gorman said.

Out of the 170 Nordic skiers who competed at the State Meet, Gorman finished 40th in the 5K event and 41st in the Pursuit event. Coming off of this impressive finish, he has very high hopes for next year’s Nordic season. He has goals of returning to State next season and finishing in the top 25 in both the 5K and Pursuit events.

Gorman was very proud of his performance at State this season–the competitors were strong, and he was able to keep pace in the 5K race. The second course to finish out the competition for the Pursuit race was the most difficult course that he had encountered all season, and staying with the leaders was a struggle. “I performed pretty well; the first race went well, [while] the second race was tough and the course was really hard,” Gorman said.

Overall, Gorman represented the Red Knights with his best performance at the State competition. “I gave it my all.  I think I maybe could have had a better second race, but I think I did pretty well,” Gorman said.

Another skier revealed her incredible talent for the Red Knights at the girls’ Nordic State competition: freshman Charlie Brown. Brown attends Groves Academy, minutes away from BSM in St. Louis Park, but she skis for the BSM girls’ Nordic team.

Brown ended up with an extremely strong performance at State by finishing 18th in the 5K event and 22nd in the Pursuit event, among the best and most talented skiers in the State. Brown will continue to ski for the girls’ Nordic team next season. She has the same intentions next year of reaching State, and she hopes to come out with an even stronger finish.