Boys Alpine Skiing State Meet: 2024 Recap
Posted: Tuesday, February 13, 2024 - 5:32 PM
Irondale senior Anthony Petkov won the individual championship during the Boys Alpine Skiing State Meet on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at Giants Ridge in Biwabik.
Earlier this week, Irondale senior Anthony Petkov stopped by the office of activities director Chris Fink and asked if he was going to make the three-hour trip from New Brighton to Giants Ridge to attend the Minnesota State High School League’s Alpine Skiing State Meet. Fink had planned to, but was curious as to why Petkov was asking.
“He told me it was going to be worth the trip,” Fink said with a smile. “He said he was going to win the darn thing.”
Petkov didn’t let his administrator down. He put himself into position to capture the title with a strong first run and then seized it with an equally impressive showing to finish in a combined time of 1 minute, 15.69 seconds. Stillwater senior Cash Jaeger was runner-up in 1:16.63. Orono senior Jack Shideman was third in 1:16.78.
“Yes, I had a strong sense of confidence coming into this state meet,” Petkov said. “It was a measured confidence because there are so many great skiers here competing for the same thing.”
He also had to tuck away memories of a year ago where his two-run stat line looked like this: “DNF (did not finish) and DNS (did not start). History did not repeat itself.
Petkov was in second position after the first run with a time of 36.76 seconds. Just ahead of him was Hastings senior Jackson Reents in 36.56. Jaeger was in third after the first run, but close behind at 37.01. A dandy duel was anticipated for the second run. Petkov had the fastest time of the second run in 38.93 and Jaeger was second in 39.62. Reents, third in 2023, did not finish the second run. He missed a gate near the end of the run and skied off the course.
Petkov is the second Irondale skier to win an Alpine Skiing State Championship and first since Nick Stang in 2008.
“What I am mostly happy about is that this brings positive recognition to our school,” Petkov said. “The school and students are very deserving.”
Minneapolis Washburn denied Minnetonka the opportunity of a three-peat of championships by winning the team crown. Minnetonka and Hill-Murray each had 151 points, but Minnetonka won the tiebreaking to finish as the runner-up with Hill-Murray third. It is the first time since 1976 that a Minneapolis Public School won the Alpine Skiing State Champion. Minneapolis Washburn captured that title in 1976, two years after Minneapolis Roosevelt won consecutive crowns in 1973 and 1974, respectively.
Scoring for the Millers were senior Finn Cherveny, senior Jack Bajek, senior Beckett Wedren and senior Levi Ehlers.
Minneapolis Washburn became the first Minneapolis Public School since 1976 to win the Boys Alpine Skiing State Championship.
