State Nordic skiing: Central edges Ely at the finish line for team sprint title

Central senior William Poppleton was in the final lap of the state team sprint final on Wednesday in Biwabik when coach Robb Lageson yelled from the side, “Don’t go down the hill first.”

Poppleton has been racing Nordic skiing since he was 7 years old. He know what his coach was requesting. Poppleton had to let Ely’s Eli Olson get a slight advantage on the final hill, so Poppleton could draft off of him.

“That’s just exactly what I did,” Poppleton said. “I let him catch me around the turnaround, I stayed right on his heels, and then I slingshotted around him, because I had that little extra boost of energy.”

Poppleton edged Olson at the line, crossing at 13 minutes, 40.32 seconds – just 22 hundredths ahead of Ely. Highland Park’s duo of Cooper Foss and Aidan Guiney finished in sixth. The Nordic title is the boys program’s first of any sort since 1993.

Poppleton’s teammate, Edward Brandt, who skied the other half of the race, was jumping up and down near the finish line when his teammate crossed first.

“I was so happy, I was crying,” Brandt said. “It was a dream. I was definitely thinking we had a shot, I didn’t think it would actually happen. … This was unexpected.”

Particularly given what had played out roughly two hours earlier in the day. Central’s heat was passable, but not great. Brandt felt he went out too hard to start, and performed poorly in his second lap. Poppleton was ill after the first race.

“I felt like throwing up,” he said. “It took me like a half an hour to get from laying position to sitting position to then standing position. I had to control my nausea for a while. I eventually ate some food, got my energy back and then was ready.”

Central was fourth-fastest in the heats, 14 seconds behind Orono/Delano and 11 seconds slower than Ely. But the Minutemen delivered when it mattered most.

“We want our athletes to be resilient, and you do your best and then look to the next race,” Lageson said. “Learn from each race and then look to the next one. They did a great job of that today.”

Wednesday was the second-to-last day of the Nordic season. The individual pursuit is slated for Thursday, also at Giants Ridge. But in many ways, the relay was a culmination for Central. Particularly for Poppleton, who noted he was mentored by Brandt’s older brother, and had taken Edward – a sophomore – under his wing in recent years. Brandt noted he’d always dreamed of standing atop the podium, but never thought the feat would be achieved so early in his career.

His teammate helped him get there. Sharing the jubilation made Tuesday’s success all the more special.

“This means a ton to me, because my final race – graduating this year – it means the world,” Poppleton said. “Sharing this moment with him, it means a lot.”