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Championship Results   Traverse City spin

WALOON LAKE--The Copper Country girls team placed first and the boys placed second at the Michigan State High School Cross-Country Ski Championships over the weekend. Combined, the Copper Country teams placed second, by just eight points out of 241, to Traverse City. Eleven teams participated in the event, held at Boyne Valley Lodge.

The championships included two races: a classic-style race on Saturday and a freestyle race on Sunday. Racers' times for the two races were combined to determine the final standings.

Karen Oppliger (Hancock) paced the Copper Country girls team with a fourth place individual finish. Anna Coulter of Traverse City took the girls state title. Karen Jarvey (Calumet) placed fifth, Lieschen Klemp (Laurium) was sixth, Kaye Helminen (Laurium) was seventh, and Amber Young (Hancock) was 15th. A total of 31 racers participated in the event.

Ryan Tervo (Chassell) paced the boys team with a third place finish. Cameron Ross of Traverse City took the boys title. Sam Kilpela and Ben Seppanen, both of Chassell, finished seventh and ninth, respectively. Keith Helminen (Laurium) was 11th. Last year's state champion, John Olson (Chassell), fought a back problem and finished 12th among the 33 participants.

Several of the Copper Country skiers have already qualified for the Junior National Championships, to be held March 8-16 in Anchorage, Alaska. Qualifiers include Kaye Helminen, Karen Jarvey, Ryan Tervo and John Olson. Qualifying involves earning points for finishes in various races throughout the ski season.

The Copper Country team is sponsored, in part, by the Copper Country Ski Tigers, a community organization that operates a cross-country ski program for area youth.

Overall Team Scores: Traverse City Gold 241; Copper Country 233; Marquette 174; Traverse City Christian/Glen Lake 52; Traverse City Black 51; South Torch Lake 30; Traverse City Green 28; Boyne City 22; Roscommon 21; Traverse City St. Francis 17; Vanderbilt 7.

Girls Team Scores: Copper Country 121; Traverse City Gold 116; Marquette 79; Traverse City Christian/Glen Lake 52; Traverse City Black 26; Roscommon 21; Traverse City Green 13; Traverse City St. Francis 10; Vanderbilt 0; South Torch Lake 0; Boyne City 0.

Girls Individual: 
1. Ann Coulter, Traverse City Gold (45:33) 
2. Ingrid Fjeldheim, Marquette (48:34) 
3. Laura Meeker, TC Christian (50:27) 
4. Karen Oppliger, Copper Country (50:28) 
5. Karen Jarvey, Copper Country (50:52) 
6. Lieschen Klemp, Copper Country (52:05) 
7. Kaye Helminen, Copper Country (52:08) 
15. Amber Young, Copper Country (1:02:09)

Boys Team Scores: Traverse City Gold 125; Copper Country 112; Marquette 95; South Torch Lake 30; Traverse City Black 25; Boyne City 22; Traverse City Green 15; Traverse City St. Francis 7; Vanderbilt 7; Traverse City Christian/Glen Lake 0; Roscommon 0

Boys Individual: 
1. Cameron Ross, Traverse City Gold (51:14) 
2. Jared Cregg, Marquette (51:29) 
3. Chris Scott, Traverse City Gold (53:18) 
4. Ryan Tervo, Copper Country (53:50) 
7. Sam Kilpela, Copper Country (55:31) 
9. Ben Seppanen, Copper Country (56:44) 
11. Keith Helminen, Copper Country (57:44) 
12. John Olson, Copper Country (58:11)