BIWABIK — A wave of rural Northern Minnesota skiers took home silver from the Minnesota State High School League Nordic Ski State Meet at Giant's Ridge in Biwabik on Feb. 12 and 13.
The Ely boys were the only team to place, taking second. The sprint duo of senior Eli Olson and sophomore Oliver Hohenstein scored nearly half the team’s points by taking silver in the team sprint out of a field of 24 teams. Also scoring were Dylan Durkin (eighth), Aksel Skustad (19th), Wyatt Devine (39th), Otto Devine (48th) and Milo McClellan (76th).
Also taking second on the girl’s side was Proctor/Hermantown’s sprint team of seniors Campbell Amundson and Nene Sclisizzo, an exchange student from Italy. Senior Della Bettendorf was the runner-up in the pursuit race out of 112 skiers. The team ultimately finished fifth in the meet.

Also medaling was Brainerd junior Annelise Baird, who placed seventh.
The top seven individual athletes medal at the state meet, as do the top three teams and sprint duos.
The Brainerd boys team of Gabe Hallgren (14th), Owen Robertson (31st), Wyatt Brown (43rd), Alex Lelwica (53rd), Taite Knapp and sprint duo Triston Kubista and Joseph Neumann (12th) finished fifth of the 16 teams.
The Proctor/Hermantown girls team of Bettendorf, Rachel Bettendorf (25th), Lizzy Harnell (82nd), Ferrah Lalone (89th), Paisley Kleiman (99th) and the Amundson/Slisizzo team also finished fifth.
Full results are available at mshsl.org.
-
Plus: Denise Slipy announces 2026 Senate District 6 run; Sen. Klobuchar gives speech on floor in support of public media; and Astera Health celebrates the opening of a cancer center in Wadena.
-
During the Phenology Report for the week of July 8, 2025, Staff Phenologist John Latimer welcomes high summer and threatens the lives of encroaching deer flies.
-
Heavy ground-level smoke from wildfires in central Canada moved into Minnesota behind a line of thunderstorms on Friday, July 11, 2025, prompting an air quality alert.
-
Radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches are possible in the warned area.
-
Klobuchar also joined KAXE to talk about the fight to protect federal funding for public media, emphasizing the critical role community radio and TV play in rural places.
-
For rural hospitals already operating on tiny margins, looming Medicaid cuts will dial up the financial pressures, said Jean MacDonell, president and CEO of Fairview Range hospital in Hibbing.
-
It's July, and time to enjoy those 11,842 lakes! This week, we want to know what you like to do around Northern Minnesota's lakes and rivers.
-
Mitchell was arrested in April 2024 in Detroit Lakes after police allege they found her in her stepmother’s basement around 4:45 a.m. She claims she was attempting to retrieve some of her late father’s possessions.
-
Events this week include the Hubbard County Fair in Park Rapids, "Willy Wonka" in Pequot Lakes, Smokey Bear Day at Itasca State Park and an author brown bag in Brainerd.
-
And: Essentia Health advanced practice providers go on strike; and the YMCA and Early EDge to partner on child care in Grand Rapids.