Sheridan High School Nordic makes history, and boys set a new record!

In our third year as a high school sport, we finally took on the challenge of hosting our very first home meet. One of the biggest hurdles was identifying a suitable race venue. While Sheridan has three Nordic areas, none are ideal for hosting a race due to challenges with parking, creating a looped race course, and avoiding snowmobile roads. Ultimately, we chose to host the race at Cutler, which added three new trails this past summer. These additions allowed us to set up a truly exciting race course.

The second race day was particularly ambitious, as it was set to include Bearcat Hill in both directions, requiring a mass start and narrowing the skill range between the fastest and slowest skiers. To make the event possible, we collaborated with the Forest Service and WYDOT to secure permits, and the Sheriff's Office provided support to ensure road access remained safe.

BMNC played an essential role in preparing the race course. They helped identify the layout, worked with us to flatten bumps and remove tree stumps, and spent countless hours grooming the course after a significant snowfall right before the race. They even built signs to mark course distances. On race day, they shuttled equipment between the parking lot and the stadium near the Mutt Hut. A special thanks goes to Nick Flores and Curt Schwamb for their outstanding efforts.

Our race plan included a 4.3k classic race on Friday and a 7k skate race on Saturday. Friday’s race consisted of two laps around the meadow and the Sage Loop behind the Mutt Hut. With temperatures in the low 30s and sunny skies, conditions were glorious but made kick waxing a challenge. Lucky for us, the relatively flat loop allowed for extensive double-poling.

Our boys excelled, achieving our best team result in history by finishing second overall. SeanKyle Taylor placed third, Justin McDowell seventh, Gabe Aasby ninth, Henry Phillips sixteenth, and Abe Hughes rounded out the scoring in twentieth. In the Boys JV race, we swept first and second place with Will Dominguez and Max Forman, while Luke Schreiber finished seventh overall. What a day!

For the girls, Kayley Alicke placed third overall, followed by Livie Martin-Davis in eighteenth, Brynn Kirol in twenty-eighth, Ella Walton in forty-fourth, and Kindell Baker in forty-fifth.

Unfortunately, Saturday brought a drastic change in weather. We woke up to high winds and eight inches of fresh snow on the course by 6:30 a.m. With hazardous road conditions, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel the race. This was particularly disappointing as we were excited about the course layout and the planned mass starts, a crowd favorite. However, the decision proved to be the right one as the weather continued to deteriorate throughout the weekend.

Despite the setback, the feedback from attendees and coaches was overwhelmingly positive. Friday’s success left us inspired to work with BMNC and the Forest Service to further develop our Nordic area, enabling us to host future races comparable to those in Casper, Jackson, and other top locations around the state.

Once again, a heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers, BMNC, the Forest Service, WYDOT, and the Sheriff's Office. Without their support, hosting our first Nordic ski race would not have been possible.

The complete results for this race can be found here.