By Bruce Karnick

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Hastings Nordic ski team numbers are smaller than many of the other schools in the conference, and the team is OK with that. This young team goes out, has a great time, competes and gets up ready to go at it again the next day. Hastings attended its third meet of the season Jan. 13, traveling to Hyland Park reserve to take on Math and Science Academy, Mahtomedi, Two Rivers, Tartan, Simley, and North St. Paul.

The boys placed fifth overall with a score of 317, Mahtomedi took first with 473.

Individual results for the boys: Josiah Trost – 16:05 Micah Trost – 19:12 Aiden Stoltz – 20:55 Craig Hartman – 21:45 The girls placed seventh with a score of 82, Math and Science Academy finished first with 463.

Hastings results: EC Atkins – 22:39 Molly Caturia – 25:05 Racers of note for the day, Josiah Trost took second in the boys varsity 5K and Carlee Kordosky won the JV 2.5k for the girls.

On the Alpine side, Hastings head coach Jason Gergen sent in this last minute update on how things are going.

The alpine ski team resumed competition after the holiday break. The team travelled to Afton for the first conference race of the season. Racers were greeted with cold temps and a strong wind. That didn’t slow Jackson Reents as he combined the fastest two runs of the night to take first place. Aaron Herber had a solid race and finished third overall. Caleb Kimmes, Gavin Molitor, and Joe Peine all finished in the top twenty. Finn Caturia, James Millhollin, and Charlie Vier also contributed points to the boy’s total. In the end it was good enough for third place behind strong performances from Hill Murray and Minneapolis Southwest.

The girls were looking to get off to a strong start this season. Abbigail Pelava and Mallory Karnick led the way with top ten finishes. seventh grader Kate Nowak is making a big first impression finishing 18th and senior Taylor Pelava rounded out the top twenty. The team finished a strong thirdrd with contributions from Alexa Loritz, Jolie Pettit, and Claire Caturia. New team members Madeline Herdt and Madeline Paulson also played a crucial role in the girl’s strong finish.

Tuesday was the first home race at Welch Village. Warmer weather greeted the athletes as they took on conference rival St Thomas and several schools from the Minneapolis area. The boys took home first place hardware with four skiers finishing in the top ten. Jackson Reents continued his winning ways while Aaron Herber skied to a solid third place. Cole Caturia finished in eighth place and Gavin Molitor had two solid runs to finish tenth. The boys were also supported with solid runs from Caleb Kimmes, Jacob Schield, Joe Peine, and James Millhollin.

The girls managed a third place behind section competitors Minneapolis Washburn and Minneapolis alpine ski team. Kate Nowak led the way with a solid fifth place finish. She was joined in the top ten by Abbigail Pelava who finished a strong eighth place. Mallory Karnick and Taylor Pelava both finished in the top 20, while Jolie Pettit, Kira Lindstrom, Madeline Herdt, and Addison Maniak all contributed points to final score.

The Hastings JV boys also beat conference rival St Thomas. They were led by seventh grader James McNamara who finished second. Eighth graders Mason Leary and Weston Chandler both finished in the top ten. The team also received strong performances from Nathan Schield, Jadon Mike, Fernando Gonzalez Castello, and Hayden Gunter.

Several racers from Hastings travelled north to Giants Ridge for an invitational race over MLK weekend. The boys squad included Aaron Herber, Cole Caturia, Zach Rother, Caleb Kimmes, Joe Peine, Charlie Millhollin, Fernando Castello, Finn Caturia, and Gavin Molitor. They were able to take home the victory in the morning race and a second place over a challenging racecourse in the afternoon. Aaron Herber finished with a fourth place in the morning race and second place in the afternoon. Cole Caturia also managed a top ten in the morning race with an eighth-place finish.

The girls squad included 12 graders Kira Lindstrom and Taylor Pelava. They were joined by Claire Caturia, Kate Nowak, Mallory Karnick, and Kate Nowak. The girls finished fifth in the morning and sixth in the afternoon race with Kate, Taylor and Mallory all finishing in the top twenty in both races.