The Rivals - Separate but Together

Once upon a time, all the kids in south Washington County went to one school - Park of Cottage Grove. Then, just as our country was warming up to celebrate the bicentennial, Woodbury High School opened and split not only the student body, but the allegiances of those residing between Dakota county and the Wisconsin border. These days, Park-Woodbury ranks as one of the top rivalries in the metro area. That rivalry takes a break, however, on the ski slopes as the Hatfields and the McCoys set aside their differences for the sake of alpine skiing. "In general, they handle themselves pretty well," coach Jason Anderson said. "The kids do a good job of respecting the fact that they are rivals, but not carrying that rivalry into practice." Anderson, a science teacher at Woodbury, handles the head coaching duties for both teams. The schools do not co-op their program and maintain separate team status, yet, they share in just about every facet of their season — including practicing and racing together. "We do everything together," Anderson said. "We have team dinners together, practice together, ride the bus together... However, they still compete against each other and they do still like to beat each other." Anderson maintains that ski team members from the two schools carry a respect for one another on the slopes while they work to better themselves individually. Indeed, at meets it is difficult to tell the difference between Royals and Wolfpackers as the bulk of team members mingle together at the top and bottom of the hill. Aside from a blue or green number on a bib, little remains to differentiate between the two-generation long rivals. "They definitely maintain their team loyalties," Anderson said. "But it's not always as apparent." Both schools are experiencing an upturn in participation as 58 skiers came out in all to populate the teams. Woodbury, the 1989 State Champion in boys Slalom Skiing - the name changed to "Alpine" in 1997 - returns the lone State participant between the two programs in Tim Loudas. Loudas, a junior this season, finished eighth in the 2007 State Meet at Giant's Ridge in Biwabik. He was one of five sophomores to finish in the top-10 last season, completing his two-run total in a combined time of 1 minute, 08.37 seconds. "It's nice to have that kind of experience coming back to share with the other kids on the team," Anderson said. In addition to Loudas, the Royals feature a solid foundation of skiers in captain Matt Tomai - the lone senior on the team - Steve Roering, Mike Brandmire and Ben Caulfield. The Woodbury girls' team returns the majority of last season's third-place Suburban East Conference team, including the lone senior captain Kathleen Stefely and 2007 All-Conference honorees Taylor Stanley and Calley Edlund. "After our third place finish last season, I think we could end up higher this year," Anderson said. After taking to the slopes with just three team members last season, the Park girls team has doubled in size and now are able to compete as a team. With their workable size, the Wolfpack girls have already claimed victories this season after basically competing for no more than individual merits last year. "The girls are competitive now," Anderson said. "It's a great thing to see." The squad returns Ashley Chelmo, the team's elder State participant as a sophomore, Andrea Kujz, and Corine Seipel and adds Marissa Wonkonski, Kaitlyn Cornwell, and Stefanee Iverson. The Park boys team welcomes 12 new faces this season and are led by seniors Jason Brunsvold and Phil Schaefer, along with returnees Josh Kellner and Charlie Tank. "We're looking for some good things from the team this winter," Anderson said. His remark speaks not only for the Park boys, but for all the Wolfpack and Royals teams carving around the flags. The regular season ended January 31st, with the section meet deciding who goes to state occurring on February 5th. The state meet, again at Giant's Ridge, is February 14th.