High School Boys Team

The boys team had an outstanding year statistically. Even though short in numbers, they made up for it in strength in outstanding individual performances. We are proud to annouonce that Kenny Statz (sophmore) won the River Cities Nordic Challenge on January 30th. Way to go Ken!

Grant Anderson(Senior) Grant led this team at several of the races we attended. He contributed greatly by having solid times at Standing Rocks (6K) and Iola (5K) to kick off the season. Grant also won his age group at the River Cities Nordic Challenge (6.5K). Grant was one of the first W.R.J.N.S.T. members to ever ski at the Wisconsin High School Championships(6.1K). Grant also raced in the Pre-Birkie (22K) and he completed the entire American Birkebeiner (51K) this year. Congratulations, Grant, and thank you for all the hard work, leadership, and dedication you have displayed over the season.

Nathan Naze(Junior) Nate, the Co-president and LHS representative for our club, was a contributing factor for the team on and of the course. He raced in the River Cities Nordic Challenge, and had a great time in the American Birkebeiner this year. We look forward to having Nate back next year and becoming hopefully he will be even more of a threat to the competition! Thank You for all of your time and effort, Nate…we couldn’t have done it without you!

Ken Statz(Sophmore) Kenny started his season off with a bang when he finished fourth in the Iola Norseman Ski Classic on January 17. His hard work and persistence in practice paid off when he won the Rapids Nordic Challenge later in the month. He had a solid fourth place finish at the Badger State Games (7K), falling only to some of the state’s best J2 skiers. (To give you some idea of the competition…2 of the people he finished behind in that race are Junior Olympians!) Ken missed the High School championships due to an illness, but was back in full force to win the Solomon Junior Sprints in Hayward on Febuary 26th. (He beat those 2 Junior Olympians this time!) He capped of his record setting weekend by having a remarkable time in his first American Birkebeiner. We hope to see many more great performances by Kenny in the future!

Ryan Medo(Freshman) Ryan started off the season fast by having great time in the Green Bay Invite (10K), a week before the rest of the team got started. And he didn’t stop there…in fact, he completed eight races—more than anyone else on the team. He had strong races at both Standing Rocks and Iola, and finished strong in the River Cities Challenge. He had a great race at the Badger States, finishing an impressive seventh! The next weekend he raced back-to-back races in the Pre-Birkie and in the High School Championships. He had excellent times in both. The last race of the season for Ryan was the Kortelopet. He had a personal best in the race despite questionable conditions. Ryan has many more years to shine in cross-country skiing, and we’ve only just seen the beginning!

Steven Johannes(Freshman) Steven attended almost all of the races this season. He started off opening weekend in full force, and continued in his power surge throughout the season. He placed great times at Standing Rocks, Iola, Rapids, and the Badger States. Another feat he accomplished well was his back-to-back consistently outstanding races at the Pre-Birkie and at the High School Championships. We were represented well by Steve at all of the races and we are very privileged to have such a dedicated member on our team. Steven capped of the year by having an excellent time in the 23 Kilometer Kortelopet. Congratulations on a great year, Steve!

Pat Kuhl (Freshman) The East Junior High representative, who is just learning to ski, did a great job this year and made it to many practices. We look forward to seeing him improve even more next season. Keep up the Good Work Pat!