2021 State Nordic Ski Championships [VIDEO]

The State Nordic Skiing Championships were held on Friday and Saturday on Casper Mountain with the 5K Classic on Friday and the 10K Freestyle the following day. On the girl's side for the 5K, the winner there was Jackson's Kate Brigham who crossed the finish line in 18.31.8. A year ago, she also placed first with a time of 19.19.2 so there was some major improvement there. In 2nd place on Friday was Natalie O'Brien from Jackson in 19.12.1. She took 2nd last season with a clocking of 19.26.5. Lander's Kaylynn Sandall took the bronze medal in 19.12.6 and also placed 3rd a year ago.

In the boy's 5K, Kaleb Simonson of Lander made a huge step forward with a state championship in 15.54.4. He was 4th in the 2020 championships in 17.17.8 so here's another case of substantial improvement. Jackson's Mason Wheeler took 2nd in 16.32.0 and timed out at 16.32.1 last season, also taking 2nd. Coming in 3rd was Jackson's Desmond Concanon in 17.22.9.

In the 10k race on Saturday, the times were a bit slower in some cases due to some overnight snowfall, and on the ladies' side, it was Kate Brigham of Jackson repeating as the state champion with a time of 35.31.3. A year ago, Brigham won the event in 31.45.3. Right behind her was Natalie O'Brien of Jackson who took the silver medal for the 2nd straight year. Her time on Saturday was 36.08.5 with a time of 31.43.3 in last year's championships. Lander's Annu Wilmot was 3rd in the 10k at 38.31.1

For the boys in the freestyle race, Kaleb Simonson of Lander asserted himself and won the race by over a minute and a half. Simonson clocked in at 30.37.6 and took 2nd at the state meet a year ago with a time of 26.06.5. Coming in 2nd was Mason Wheeler of Jackson who placed 3rd in 2020. This year's time was 32.13.2 and last season, he crossed the finish line in 26.18.0 His teammate Desmon Concanon took the bronze in 33 minutes even,

In the girl's team standings at the State Nordic event, Jackson took 1st with 262 points, Lander was 2nd with 236, and Natrona 3rd with 155. It marks the 10th straight year that the Broncs have won the team championship. Jackson also won the boy's team title as they piled up 263 points, Lander was 2nd against with 230 and Natrona was 3rd again with 139. The Broncs's three-peated as the state champions and now have 20 titles overall in Nordic.

We have some of the video to share from the trails on Casper Mountain on Saturday. Enjoy!