Ripp races to the last second of high school career

Cloquet Nordic skier Aidan Ripp finished his last state high school meet in a race to the finish against one of his toughest Northland competitors, a final push that saw both skiers end with exactly the same time: 31:11.8.

Former CEC ski coach Glen Sorenson said it was literally a photo finish.

"The time can be the same but you still can be 'toed out' at the finish," said Sorenson. "They have a little camera at the finish line for exactly that reason."

Thus, Ripp took 12th and Ely sophomore Jasper Johnston finished in 11th place in the Feb. 14 pursuit race at Giants Ridge. It was Ripp's second-best finish at State after taking 11th place his sophomore year.

Ripp - who competes in Nordic combined (ski jumping and Nordic skiing) on the Junior National team - said it was a bittersweet finish to his high school career.

"I had really ignored the fact that it was my last one until I got done, then I was like, 'Wow, that's kind of sad,'" he said after last week's race. "I just wanted to enjoy it and not be thinking about it being my last race."

The Valentine's Day race marked Ripp's third trip to State and CEC sophomores Josh Sanders and Benjamin Bauer's first time competing at State.

Bauer finished in 60th and Sanders finished in 85th place, out of a field of 160 skiers from all over the state.

Conditions were pristine for the morning's freestyle (skate) race, but took a turn for the worse after noon, when it started snowing and the wind picked up at the resort near Biwabik, Minn.

"I think even worse than the snow was the wind," Sanders shared. "If you have glasses on, the snow really doesn't make any difference, but the wind just got anywhere you had exposed skin."

Bauer agreed.

"But this was pretty good compared to sections," he added, noting the temperatures were about 15-20 degrees colder at Giants Ridge the week before.

Racers began the afternoon race in the exact order they finished the morning race. For Ripp, that was great, because he was in fourth after the morning and near only a few skiers.

Sanders said it was more challenging further back.

"Because you are so clumped up with other people, it's hard to pass," he said. "In the other sense, you know where you are in the pack."

"You can see how many people you're passing and just pick them off one by one," Bauer added.

Ripp said passing was difficult in the afternoon classic-style race.

"Trying to pass people today was tough because it was so snowy beside the track," he said. "The fastest place was in the track."

Although it was the last race of the high school season, it wasn't the end of competition for any of the three CEC skiers. Sanders and Bauer were competing Saturday and Sunday at two different 10K Junior National Qualifier races in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, Ripp was hopping a plane to Vermont in the morning, heading to a U.S. Cup competition for the Junior National team. The senior said he is planning to take a gap year before starting college to focus on training for Nordic combined.

He loves the balance of both ski jumping and Nordic skiing in his sport.

"It can be easy to dig yourself in a hole with cross-country skiing, with overtraining and getting focused on one thing ... with Nordic combined, it's nice sometimes to take that break and do something completely different."

All three credited a host of coaches for helping them become better skiers: longtime coach Ben Croft who coaches Sanders, Bauer and A.J. Maijala in the JNQ races, assistant coach Tim Stark and head coach Arne Maijala, who Sanders said "just really ties everything together and is so organized and looks after them."

Ripp said it was especially nice for him to see now retired coach, Glen Sorenson, at the state meet.

"For me, I thought it was really cool to see Glen," Ripp said. "I really respect Coach Maijala and Coach Stark, but I've been with Glen for six years. It was great to see him."

Maijala said he was very proud of all three of the CEC skiers.

"These guys worked for it, they put their hearts out there and that's all we can ask for," said the first-year coach.

The CEC boys team, in particular, looks like it's in good shape for next year, Maijala said.

"We've got a lot of talented boys coming up," he said, mentioning the strong sophomore group of boys and freshman Cale Prosen. "And our girls team is making strides too. There's a lot of energy and that's contagious."