The Norway varsity girls ski team, from right, Grace Schiltz, Sophia Fornetti, Sofia Ruesch, Ingrid Holt and Sophia Richardson, takes the chairlift to the start line for the MHSAA Division 2 state finals at Boyne Highlands ski resort in Harbor Springs on Monday. (Courtesy photo)

HARBOR SPRINGS — Norway varsity alpine ski team senior Sofia Ruesch raced to a sixth place finish in Michigan High School Athletic Association State Skiing Championships held Monday at Boyne Highlands.

Reusch’s finish secured her spot on the All-State first team to go along with the ski racing awards she had already earned this winter. She was an All-Region honoree, All-Conference first teamer and the U.P. Giant Slalom Champion.

“Sofia had an incredible season,” Knights’ head coach John Bittinger said. “She was key in leading our team to the state finals this year and capped off her career with more awards. She was so solid and balanced on her two slalom runs today we never had a concern about her. You could see without an electronic timer she was fast, and she was.”

Norway, who co-ops with Kingsford and Iron Mountain for skiing, competes in Division 2. The finals fielded the best teams who qualified through their respective regions plus the fastest individual skiers who finished in the top 10 at Regionals, but their team didn’t qualify. In total there were 72 of the top girls in the division who participated in the finals Monday.

“Ruesch’s sixth place was one of our best results in the last six years,” Bittinger said. “Great finishes in the states are difficult, because the level of competition is so high and due to the pressure of having to ski best in the one moment.

“Season records are tossed out and everything comes down to one final race result and they have to ski perfectly.”

The team result for the Knights did not go as anticipated.

Due to multiple mistakes in the slalom and a tough giant slalom they fell back to ninth place overall. They finished ninth in the slalom and sixth in the giant slalom. Harbor Springs was the champion followed by East Grand Rapids.

In the slalom, which was the first event, Ingrid Holt and Sophia Richardson managed to ski clean earning a 47th and 66th place result.

Senior Grace Schiltz was in 16th after her first run but an unfortunate disqualification on run two for hooking a gate near the finish, dropped her out of contention. Sofia Fornetti, Norway’s top slalom skier two weeks ago at Regionals, hooked a gate on the top of the first run which knocked her to the back of the pack.

“It was tough for these girls,” Bittinger said. “They have been skiing so well recently it was somewhat of a shock to see both Grace and Fornetti catch a tip. Ingrid skied smooth and solid and Richardson, as a first year racer and freshman, earned valuable experience for us going forward.”

The giant slalom did not go well for the Knights either. Ingrid was the top finisher in 39th place followed by Fornetti in 41st, Schiltzat 42nd and Ruesch in 54th.

“We were happy to see Ingrid’s result,” Bittinger said. “She improved by almost 20 spots from last season’s state finals. She will be key for us next season since she is only a junior this year.

“Unfortunately for the other girls this hill did not set up well for us. The relatively flat slope on the giant slalom and soft snow conditions were not in our favor. We just could not get anything going. We will take this as a learning experience for when the finals return to Highlands in four years.”

This was the Knights third trip to the state finals in five years as a team They also have a five-year streak of at least one individual earning All-State honors.

“This is something our area can be very proud of,” Bittinger said.

“We are considered a small program compared to many of these large downstate clubs and we have shown we can compete with the best in the state.”