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Sports

Minnetonka Alpine Ski Teams Head for State

Minnetonka High School girls and boys teams swept Thursday's sectional meet at Afton Alps and will move onto state.

The beat goes on for the Minnetonka High School alpine ski teams.

Despite a season of challenging weather and snow conditions, the girls and boys teams at Afton Alps and will move onto the state contest.

A traditional power in high school alpine skiing, Minnetonka’s girls are the defending state team champion, winning the 2011 State Alpine Ski Meet with 149 points. Minnetonka’s boys were second in the 2011 state team meet last season.

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Minnetonka has been a Minnesota super power in Alpine Skiing.

"I'd say the last 13-14 years have been very strong, very competitive," said coach Steve Lindemer.

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Both the girls and boys team are strong once again this season.

"The boys team, they lost a couple more strong individuals, but with the depth of the Minnetonka program, there's other racers to fill those gaps," Lindemer said. "The girls are very solid. They're skiing at a very, very strong level."

Minnetonka warmed up for the section meet with a pair of decisive wins last week at Buck Hill, besting five west-side rivals.

The girls team won with 431 points, besting Eden Prairie (338), Wayzata (311), Orono (279), Edina (303) and Hopkins (126).

The Minnetonka girls were led by top finishes from Erin Olejnik, who won the Buck Hill event with a score of 67, edging teammate Madison Gartner who had a 66. Other top scorers for Minnetonka were: Megan Greiner (fifth), Marlee Gartner (seventh), Anna Ewald (ninth), Allison Haworth (10th) and Anna Meiusi (11th).

Olejnik, a sophomore, is rated one of the best skiers in the state.

Minnetonka boys also won at Buck Hill, scoring 436.5 points, followed by Edina (402), Hopkins (370), Eden Prairie (306.5), Orono (283.5) and Wayzata (253.5).

The Minnetonka boys are led by senior Lars Midthun, senior James Fleming and junior Griffin Stryke. Fleming had the top points in the meet at Buck Hill, however, finishing third overall. He was followed by Stryke (fifth), Midthun (seventh), Dane Alexander (eighth), Charles Johnson (14th), Jonathan Landa (18th) and Peter Madden (19th).

"I would say most teams have two or three, maybe, really good skiiers," said Lindemer. "Minnetonka is fortunate to have the depth of ability. Having four skiiers within the same half-second on any given race is really unheard of."

Depth is usually the key to Minnetonka's success, and will be a key to successful section and state runs.

"One of the things that great about that depth is they end of seeing each other ski and they feed on each other," Lindemer said. "So they're able to train with each other, compete with each other, and they're all great friends."

The state meet will be Feb. 15 at Giants Ridge in Biwabik.

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