BIWABIK— It was a second run to remember for Brainerd's Calia Chaney Tuesday, Feb. 14.
Chaney recorded the third fastest time in the second run which vaulted her to an 11th-place finish at the state meet at Giants Ridge Resort in Biwabik.
For the second straight year, Chaney earned All-State honors, which goes to the top 25 skiers. She finished with a combined time of 1:18.44. She got down the hill in 37.10 on her second run.
“I was very happy after my run,” Chaney said. “I knew after my second run that I had a very good run. No one had beat me all the way until the girl who won overall and the last girl, who didn’t finish her first run. So for a while, I was in first place for the second run and it was very exciting.”
Chaney admitted she skied her first run a little conservatively. Even so, she put herself in 24th place after the first run with a 41.34 time.
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“It wasn’t intentional,” Chaney said of her first run. “I just kind of overturned all my turns. But on the second, run I really had nothing to lose, so I tried to go all out and was very aggressive and it definitely paid off.”
Warriors head coach Jim Ruttger said he was amazed at Chaney’s second run.
“With coaching, so much of it is just where your mind is,” Ruttger said. “I don’t know if in her first run, she was being a little conservative — her line was a little wider in the deeper sections which we are not really used to seeing from her. She still had the 24th-fastest run, but she was so much more aggressive in that second run.
“It’s just unheard of in a sport that’s measured in tenths of seconds to have moved up that much. It really shows what she has inside of her and what ability she has. I thought I was conservative in saying she could be in the top 10 and I think she showed that today in the potential she has. She just crushed it.”
Hill Murray’s Taylor Voigt grabbed the girls’ state title with a 1:15.32. She was first in the first run in 38.27 and edged Chaney out on the second run in 37.05.
Weather played a factor as the warmer temperatures brought rain. However, Chaney said the only obstacle was fogged-up goggles.
“It definitely was annoying that it was raining,” she said. “All it really did was make it a little harder for me to see. It wasn’t really too bad when I went, but it definitely started raining hard after my second run.”
Ruttger added: “Even when the rain was coming down, it was freezing instantly. The rain didn’t really start coming down until about two minutes after she finished her second run. It really had no impact on her and I don’t think it had much impact on the rest of the field.”
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Her All-State performance this year adds to Chaney’s already impressive resume. The Pequot Lakes student won the state title in the 800 run last year. In the fall, she finished 10th in the state cross-country meet, which was her third All-State performance in that sport.
“It's just my mindset and staying really positive,” Chaney said. “I’ve always been really excited before my runs. If you ask anyone, I’m the only one jumping around and making a fool of myself at the top of the hill.
“It’s all about how you go into the run mental wise. Skiing is a very mental sport and just thinking about being aggressive and going for it while staying positive has definitely helped a lot.”
Girls team scores: 1-Hill Murray 163, 2-Prior Lake/Farmington 144, 3-Blake 141, 4-St. Cloud 135, 5-Southwest Minneapolis 136, 6-Eagan 102, 7-Cook County 95, 8-Duluth East 91
Individual winner: Taylor Voigt (Hill-Murray) 1:15.32
Brainerd results: 11-Calia Chaney 1:18.44
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
