Middle Park High School’s Nordic ski team took top places in a pursuit-style series of cross-country skiing races Feb. 5 in Minturn, with the girls taking second place in the classic race and the boys taking third.

A total of 10 high school teams from the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado competed in the races.

The classic-style race was a 3 km loop on challenging terrain.

Junior Sylvia Brower was the top skier for the girls in the classic event, taking second place overall with a time of 8 minutes and 28 seconds, 26 seconds behind Lake County’s Rose Horning, a Junior World’s contender. Lake County won the classic race, with Middle Park in second and Summit in third.

Other Panther girls put in strong performances: Elizabeth Hammond was the seventh place overall with a time of 9:12. Other finishers were Annie Kuhns, 14th (9:31); GabriellePellini, 20th (10:05); Haley Miller, 42nd, (10:57); Sierra Jamison, 56th, (11:35); Paige Vecchiarelli, 71st (12:14); and Alaina Mears, 82nd (13:29).

For the boys in the classic race, Gray Barker was the top Panther with a fourth place finish in a time of 7 minutes and 11 seconds, 22 seconds off the leader, Ferguson St John of Evergreen. Summit won the classic race.

Other top finishers for the boys were: Ewan Gallagher, ninth (7:38); Dane Jensen, 12th (7:40); Kyle Vogelbacher, 21st (8:08); Kadin Starr, 36th (8:39); Michael McCay, 55th (9:42); Patrick McCay, 65th (10:05); Logan Walker, 66th (10:09); Eli Boomer, 77th (10:40); and Jack Nesvara, 100th, (12:26).

In the 5 km skate race, the girls took third place while the boys came in fourth place. The girl Panthers came behind Lake County and Summit.

Sylvia Brower was the top skier for Middle Park with a fourth place finish and a time of 15:19. Other finishers for the Panthers were Elizabeth Hammond, 13th (16:33); Annie Kuhns, 23rd (17:51); Haley Miller, 32nd (18:14), Gabrielle Pellini, 39th (18:45); Sierra Jamison, 64th; Paige Vecchiarelli, 78th; and Alaina Mears, 88th.

The Middle Park boys took fourth place in the skate race, following Summit, Eagle Valley and Vail Mountain. The top Panther skier was Gray Barker in fourth place with a time of 12:39.

Other Panther finishers were Dane Jensen, 12th (13:36.00); Ewan Gallagher, 13th (13:36.20); Kyle Vogelbacher, 20th (14:06); Kadin Starr, 30th (13:36); Logan Walker, 54th; Eli Boomer, 70th; Patrick McCay, 75th; Michael McCay, 87th; and Jack Nesvarra, 99th.