Carter Niemkiewicz of Summit High School won his second consecutive classic title at the Colorado High School Activities Association’s Nordic State Championships, held Saturday at Snow Mountain Range in Granby. Niemkiewicz finished the 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 31.62 seconds, finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of teammate John Ryan, who had claimed victory in Friday’s skate race.
Niemkiewicz became the first athlete to win back-to-back classic state titles since Cameron Wolfe achieved this for Vail Mountain in 2018 and 2019. In previous years, Niemkiewicz placed second in the classic event in 2024 and ninth as a freshman in 2023.
Summit also secured the Nordic relay title, which features two legs each of skate and classic technique. This performance contributed to Summit’s overall team victory for a second straight year. The school had previously won both the inaugural boys’ Nordic team championship last year and this week’s Alpine skiing state championship.
The top ten finishers in Saturday’s individual classic included Jonah Barber (Eagle Valley) taking third place with a time of 18:10.58; Jackson McLaren (Steamboat Springs) finishing fourth at 18:16.31; Levi Ryan (Summit) fifth at 18:32.93; Wilson Anderson (Lake County) sixth at 19:01.64; Leo Tornatzky (Poudre School District) seventh at 19:03.02; Christopher Marsh (Eagle Valley) eighth at 19:06.86; Daniel Butler (Summit) ninth at 19:11.84; and Owen Fallon (Summit) tenth at 19:16.46.
Barber repeated his third-place finish from last year’s classic event, while several athletes—including Barber, McLaren, Levi Ryan, Anderson, and Butler—also earned top-ten placements during Friday’s skate race.
Summit accumulated a total of 674 points across Friday’s classic race and Saturday’s events to claim the team championship. Eagle Valley followed with 591 points for second place, Poudre School District was third with 558 points, Steamboat Springs took fourth with 550 points, and Middle Park rounded out the top five with a score of 516.
In the relay competition following Summit were Poudre School District in second place, Eagle Valley third, Steamboat Springs fourth, and Middle Park fifth.
