Sports Roundup: Ski Teams Send Members to State, East Ridge Beats Woodbury in Boys Hockey

Thursday was a momentous day for several local squads as the East Ridge and Woodbury Nordic and alpine ski teams had several members qualify for their respective state meets while the Raptors boys hockey squad claimed its first-ever victory over the Royals program that borne so many of its members.

Alpine Ski: Raptors Girls Second In Section 4, Royals Send Two Boys To State

The girls alpine ski team is heading back to state after finishing second at the Section 4 meet at Wild Mountain.

Qualifying for the Raptors are Elizabeth Koprucki, Jessie Lepel, Morgan Maxwell, Meghan Tomai, Bethany Wozniak and Jessica Schrimp.

will also be represented at the state alpine meet, to be held at Giants Ridge in Biwabik on Feb. 16, as Royals boys Karl Lund and Matt Stefely finished among the top 10 individuals in the sectional.

Nordic Ski: Raptors' Drtina Qualifies for State

Tom Drtina of the East Ridge boys Nordic ski team qualified for the state meet with a sixth-place individual finish at the Section 4 championships at Battle Creek.

The Raptors boys finished eighth as a team, with Woodbury's taking ninth and Woodbury High School placing 11th.

No local girls qualified for state as East Ridge took seventh, Woodbury 10th and MSA 12th.

The state Nordic meet is slated for Feb. 17 at Giants Ridge.

Boys Hockey: East Ridge 5, Woodbury 2

The East Ridge boys hockey team won for the first time in four tries against its big brother from Woodbury, claiming a 5-2 victory over the Royals at the Cottage Grove Ice Arena.

Woodbury actually held a 2-0 lead into the third period on goals from forwards Chase Myers-Beck and Chandler Ignaszewski.

However, the Raptors rallied for five unanswered goals. Forward Tim Wegleitner recorded the hat trick—including a late goal on an empty net—with forward Jack Greeley also logging an empty-net goal, all after forward Ian Penvose opened up the East Ridge binge with a scoring strike at 4:47 of the final frame.

The victory improved East Ridge to 9-14 overall and 5-12 in the Suburban East Conference, while Woodbury dropped to 7-9 in the SEC and 12-11 all told in the defeat.

Gymnastics: Roseville 146.45, East Ridge 134.85

East Ridge's Leah Robinette claimed the all-around individual victory with a score of 37.125, yet the Raptors lost 146.45-134.85 to state power Roseville. Individual statistics were not available.

Results were not available for the New Life Academy girls basketball game and meets involving Woodbury wrestling and gymnastics teams, as well as the East Ridge boys swimming and diving squad.