2021 Girls Alpine Ski State Meet Recap

Mild temperatures and threats of rain greeted participants that competed in the 2021 Minnesota State High School League Girls Alpine Skiing State Meet on Wednesday, March 10 at Giants Ridge near Biwabik. Racers at the annual meet, held a month later than a typical season because of a delayed start to the competitive schedule, met  snow conditions that were still favorable despite unseasonal temperatures in the days leading to the race.

Individual Champion

Ava Pihlstrom, a junior at The Blake School, blazed the slopes quicker than anyone in compiling a two-run time of 1 minute, 15.54 seconds en route to winning the individual championship. Lakeville North senior Peyton Servais finished runner-up for the second consecutive season in a time of 1:16.36. White Bear Lake junior Maggie Blanding was third in 1:16.40.

Pihlstrom, who finished 11^th overall during the 2020 state meet, was the fifth skier down the two hills for each run. She recorded a first-run time of 39.50 seconds, which was a half-second ahead of Servais, the individual champion in 2019. Pihlstrom followed that with the fastest time in the second run with a clocking of 36.04. Blanding, third overall after the first run, had the second-fastest time in the second run at 36.20, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Servais for runner-up honors. Orono senior Kyler Burrows was fourth overall in a time of 1:18.21 and Minnehaha Academy junior Grace Torgeson was fifth in 1:18.24.

Pihlstrom is the first individual champion in girls Alpine Skiing for the Minneapolis-based private school.

Team Champion

Edina captured the team title for the first time since sharing the crown with Lakeville South in 2009 by compiling 159 points. Orono was two points back at 157 and Hill-Murray was third at 140.5. It is Edina’s ninth state championship in Girls Alpine Skiing since 1991. Scoring for the Hornets were junior Ali Anselmo, senior Anna Busyn, junior Elsie Engman and senior Sophie Schuster.