Sports

Warriors Nordic Ski Roster Grows, Despite Dry Winter

The team has added about two dozen new skiers to the roster this year, due in part to the low-pressure philosophy of the coaching staff.

Unlike the weather, the ranks of the Henry Sibley High School Nordic Ski team have snowballed this year.

The co-ed roster nearly doubled in size this season, up to 55 from last year’s 30 skiers.

The boost of new skiers is a good thing to seventh-grader Greta Prokosh, one of their ranks. “I’m not one of the only people that are just learning how to ski,” she explained. She said that she joined the team with friends because she thought it would be fun.   

Find out what's happening in Mendota Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our coach put captains in charge of recruiting,” said co-captain Ruth Hesse. “We just love skiing so much that I think we rubbed off on a lot of people.”

Nordic skiing competitions are run like a cross-country race. So far, the team has been able to compete at locations where the snow is artificially made, like Trollhaugen in Dresser, Wisc. They spend their practices doing conditioning, ski-simulating drills and plenty of running.

Find out what's happening in Mendota Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It’s fun. There are a lot of good kids on the team. Its fun just to talk to people and meet new people,” said Greta's brother, ninth-grader Christopher Prokosch, who has been on the team since seventh grade.

Second-year coach and Sibley alumnus Eric Friberg coaches the team alongside assistant coach Katie Wold and his own former Sibley ski coach Tom Gustafson, a gym coach at Heritage Middle School.

“I just think people realize it’s a good way to get outside, enjoy the winter, be active and still have a social experience,” said Friberg. “It’s extremely low-pressure, but the option is there to push yourself to the limit.”

It’s also low-cost, which makes it easier for first-timers to give it a go.

Nordic skiing not only welcomes new skiers, but provides affordable equipment rentals for the entire season for about $80.

Kids from a range of economic backgrounds are on the team, said Friberg. “And we definitely tell the kids, ‘If you can’t afford it let me know, and we’ll take care of it.'”

The growth of the team put some pressure on the school’s availability of rental equipment at the start of the season, which led to a boost of fundraising support.

“ OK, we’ve got all these kids that want to try this out, but we don’t have enough equipment, and we can’t price them out because that defeats the purpose of what we’re trying to do,” said Friberg of the early-season predicament. “So it was a team initiative to fundraise as much as we can.”

Skiers sold hundreds of dollars of Butter Braids to raise money, and the Sibley Hockey Boosters matched their fundraising.

In addition, the Sibley athletic department has been “really supportive” said Friberg and has helped pay for extra busing and ski wax.

Finn Sisu in Lauderdale then helped the team purchase almost 40 pairs of skis at a good rate, said Friberg.

Each skier ideally has two pairs of skis, one for each style of Nordic skiing—“classic” and “freestyle.”

“Now we just need some snow to use them,” said Friberg.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mendota Heights