Alpine Ski: Pequot Lakes' Calia Chaney finishes 11th at state meet

BIWABIK — Pequot Lakes junior Calia Chaney recorded the third fastest time in the second run for an 11th-place finish for the Brainerd Warriors at the state alpine skiing meet Tuesday, Feb. 14, 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 after posting a 37.10 time 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.

“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.”

Her all-state performance this year adds to Chaney’s already impressive resume. She won the state track and field title in the 800 run last spring, and 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.”