Image: Kevin Koile - Sheridan Media 

The Sheridan High School Nordic Ski team completed its third season as a varsity program this past weekend, and one Lady Bronc ended up winning the school’s first individual state championship.

Junior Kayley Alicke won the girls 10 kilometer freestyle race this past Saturday at the state meet near Laramie.

Her time was 35 minutes 15.2 seconds, which was 1 minute 5.8 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor.

Alicke says she was a little bit familiar with the course off of Happy Jack Road about 7 miles southeast of Laramie, but the one thing she did not take into consideration was the fact that she was at 8,600 feet, which can cause some breathing problems for the inexperienced.

That resulted in her finishing 4th in Friday’s 5K race, but once she started preparing for the longer race, she became more comfortable with things.

“The first race on Friday was the classic 5K race and I struggled with the elevation I think and I finished the race and I was not confident in my results. I was struggling to breathe. I was having breathing issues and stuff, which I have never had before, so it made me not confident going into Saturday, but then when I got there to the course, I checked it out a little bit and I was able to calm my nerves and get excited, because I like 10Ks, and I like skating and so then going into that race, I had a better mindset and I was able to do what I wanted and follow the plan that I had in my head. We had gone down a month earlier and previewed the course, just to get an idea of what it was going to be like and it was super hilly, lots of long uphills and some pretty steep downhills and so going into it, I knew that my strong aerobic base and endurance would pay off on those uphills and I think that it definitely did.”

In the team standings at the state meet, the Sheridan girls were 7th, while the boys were 4th.